“Because of Saudi rulers’ oppressive behaviour towards God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj,” that's what Khamenei wrote on his website.
It's not only last year's stampede with several hundreds fatalities Khamenei addresses here, I suppose. Look at the construction work (a crane crash has caused last year an additional 107 dead people just before hajj), which has desecrated the holy site in recent years, just for commerce. The third-tallest building, the 601 m tall Abraj al-Bait clock tower in the immediate vicinity of the Ka'aba is an abomination. It dwarfs the House of God in a way which can only be regarded un-Islamic. The faithful, many of who have longed for their entire life for eventually making the hajj, are meanwhile driven like cattle from one holy place to the other. Saudi Wahhabism has no problems with destroying historical early Islam places in Mecca and Medina, such as Jannat al-Baqi.
I really appreciate your attempt to put, in a way, pious Wahhabism into perspective, rather than equate all Wahhabism with terrorism. This is certainly respectable. I can, on the other hand, understand Khamenei very well. To get each year 2-3 million to Mecca is a challenge. I doubt, however, whether KSA, self-proclaimed custodian of the two holy places, can grant the safety of the pilgrims, let alone does Islam any favor.
Just for the record, Merkel has made sure in public at least five times since 2010 that Isam belongs to Germany, see here: link to stefan-niggemeier.de
"Caliphate" is traditionally connoted in Christianty with fear and horror. One should not forget that the Abbasid Caliphate (as explained above probably the only one with some legitimacy and authority) has preserved science and even civilization for about 500 years. Why is a Caliphate such a ridiculous idea in the 21st century? (Abu Bakr's is, of course). Maybe Muslims would benefit from a spiritual leader which could be elected in a conclave. Sunnis are not really comparable with Protestants, rather with Catholics which consider themselves not a sect but the only legitimate church. So, why not elect a Muslim pope? (Not Abu Bakr, of course.)
How the War on Terror became a war against journalist and turned to a war on terror again. Glenn Greenwald describes his journalism as "fearless and adversarial".
The internet was just a tool for a desired panopticon. It was never meant to enhance democracy.
Bush was angered when Schröder had made sure that his coalition of Social Democrats and the Green Party were not available for another adventure (the upcoming war with Iraq). His Minister of Justice, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, had allegedly compared Bush's propaganda methods with those of Adolf Hitler. She had denied that claim.
Schröder had later been called a "political prostitute" by late Tom Lantos. So, German-U.S. American relationships had been troubled before. Whether Angela Merkel's, Gerd Schröder's or Joschka Fischer's mobile phones had been tapped is rather irrelevant given the mass surveillance of 80 million Germans. Merkel represents all Germans, who do not want to be mass surveilled. She should show some backbone as Schröder did.
"different treatment of Jews in different parts of the country" is way too euphemistic. In fact there were several pogroms in Iran before and after the long reign of Nasir al-Din Qajar, for instance in Mashhad (1839), Barfurush (1867), Shiraz (1910). It was largely the legal attitudes of the Shi’ites toward the Jews, in particular, considering them as impure (najasat-e ahl-e kitab) and inferior as compared to Muslims. It is interesting to see that under the Sunni Muslim Nadir Shah (r. 1736-47) who abolished Shi’a Islam in Iran, Jews experienced a short period of relative tolerance. They were then even allowed to settle in the holy city of Mashhad (see, for instance, Daniel Tsadik. Between Foreigners and Shi’is. Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 2007).
No, no. All of us who love the film especially when living in the Middle East, trying to understand "how they tick", find this scene so fascinating. "No Arab loves the desert. We Arabs love water and green trees. There is nothing in the desert. No man needs nothing. "I long for the vanished gardens of Cordoba." A very cultivated man.
Islam is not even mentioned in the film. Also amazing.
It's not only about women banned from driving and whipping those who do not obey. It's a society in which it seems to be accepted that "unprotected" women (incapacitated citizens) can and should be molested if not raped.
It's not only crimes against the American people. The Obama administration threatens all of us with this really sick total surveillance. America isn't a functioning democracy, Jimmy Carter had said at Die Atlantikbrücke last month. Isn't it high time to impeach the president?
11. His leaks let constitutional law professor Obama show his true colors when prejudging him: "He broke the law" (in April 2011).
12. Manning has proved that the Unites States would not hesitate to keep whistle-blowers in cages (in 2010 in Kuwait).
13. Likewise, that the U.S. humiliates and maybe tortures whistle-blowers, according to AI (Quantico in 2010 and 2011).
14. It has become clear that Assange and Snowden are well-advised to prevent, under all circumstances, entering the U.S.
15. Manning has provided historians with material which needs to be studied probably for decades.
16. He has taught us the lesson that locking him away will not silence those who criticize previous and current U.S. administrations.
Bob Baer is notoriously wrong. In June he predicted an Israeli attack of Iran's nuclear facilities in advance of Abbas' bid at the UN General Assembly for a vote for unilateral Palestinean State. In the end, Obama once again managed that there was no longer need for it. Anyway, thanks for background information.
As Netanyahu had told us before yesterday, "...the Arab Spring could soon become an Iranian winter. That would be a tragedy. Millions of Arabs have taken to the streets to replace tyranny with liberty, and no one would benefit more than Israel if those committed to freedom and peace would prevail."
Hypocrisy at its best. Not an Iranian, an American winter. Ahead of schedule.
"The HQ of the US Fifth Fleet is at Manama, the capital of Bahrain. But there are other places such a naval base could be sited in the Gulf, including in Qatar."
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“Because of Saudi rulers’ oppressive behaviour towards God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj,” that's what Khamenei wrote on his website.
It's not only last year's stampede with several hundreds fatalities Khamenei addresses here, I suppose. Look at the construction work (a crane crash has caused last year an additional 107 dead people just before hajj), which has desecrated the holy site in recent years, just for commerce. The third-tallest building, the 601 m tall Abraj al-Bait clock tower in the immediate vicinity of the Ka'aba is an abomination. It dwarfs the House of God in a way which can only be regarded un-Islamic. The faithful, many of who have longed for their entire life for eventually making the hajj, are meanwhile driven like cattle from one holy place to the other. Saudi Wahhabism has no problems with destroying historical early Islam places in Mecca and Medina, such as Jannat al-Baqi.
I really appreciate your attempt to put, in a way, pious Wahhabism into perspective, rather than equate all Wahhabism with terrorism. This is certainly respectable. I can, on the other hand, understand Khamenei very well. To get each year 2-3 million to Mecca is a challenge. I doubt, however, whether KSA, self-proclaimed custodian of the two holy places, can grant the safety of the pilgrims, let alone does Islam any favor.
In 1971 Iran under the shah seized Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs (UAE).
Excellent reply.
Jyllands-posten published the Muhammad cartoons on 30 September 2005.
Just for the record, Merkel has made sure in public at least five times since 2010 that Isam belongs to Germany, see here:
link to stefan-niggemeier.de
"Caliphate" is traditionally connoted in Christianty with fear and horror. One should not forget that the Abbasid Caliphate (as explained above probably the only one with some legitimacy and authority) has preserved science and even civilization for about 500 years. Why is a Caliphate such a ridiculous idea in the 21st century? (Abu Bakr's is, of course). Maybe Muslims would benefit from a spiritual leader which could be elected in a conclave. Sunnis are not really comparable with Protestants, rather with Catholics which consider themselves not a sect but the only legitimate church. So, why not elect a Muslim pope? (Not Abu Bakr, of course.)
How the War on Terror became a war against journalist and turned to a war on terror again. Glenn Greenwald describes his journalism as "fearless and adversarial".
The internet was just a tool for a desired panopticon. It was never meant to enhance democracy.
Bush was angered when Schröder had made sure that his coalition of Social Democrats and the Green Party were not available for another adventure (the upcoming war with Iraq). His Minister of Justice, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, had allegedly compared Bush's propaganda methods with those of Adolf Hitler. She had denied that claim.
link to news.bbc.co.uk
Schröder had later been called a "political prostitute" by late Tom Lantos. So, German-U.S. American relationships had been troubled before. Whether Angela Merkel's, Gerd Schröder's or Joschka Fischer's mobile phones had been tapped is rather irrelevant given the mass surveillance of 80 million Germans. Merkel represents all Germans, who do not want to be mass surveilled. She should show some backbone as Schröder did.
"different treatment of Jews in different parts of the country" is way too euphemistic. In fact there were several pogroms in Iran before and after the long reign of Nasir al-Din Qajar, for instance in Mashhad (1839), Barfurush (1867), Shiraz (1910). It was largely the legal attitudes of the Shi’ites toward the Jews, in particular, considering them as impure (najasat-e ahl-e kitab) and inferior as compared to Muslims. It is interesting to see that under the Sunni Muslim Nadir Shah (r. 1736-47) who abolished Shi’a Islam in Iran, Jews experienced a short period of relative tolerance. They were then even allowed to settle in the holy city of Mashhad (see, for instance, Daniel Tsadik. Between Foreigners and Shi’is. Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 2007).
"Faisal was an educated gentleman, having grown up and been schooled in cosmopolitan Istanbul, but the film makes him a primitive tribesman."
link to youtube.com
No, no. All of us who love the film especially when living in the Middle East, trying to understand "how they tick", find this scene so fascinating. "No Arab loves the desert. We Arabs love water and green trees. There is nothing in the desert. No man needs nothing. "I long for the vanished gardens of Cordoba." A very cultivated man.
Islam is not even mentioned in the film. Also amazing.
It's not only about women banned from driving and whipping those who do not obey. It's a society in which it seems to be accepted that "unprotected" women (incapacitated citizens) can and should be molested if not raped.
It's not only crimes against the American people. The Obama administration threatens all of us with this really sick total surveillance. America isn't a functioning democracy, Jimmy Carter had said at Die Atlantikbrücke last month. Isn't it high time to impeach the president?
11. His leaks let constitutional law professor Obama show his true colors when prejudging him: "He broke the law" (in April 2011).
12. Manning has proved that the Unites States would not hesitate to keep whistle-blowers in cages (in 2010 in Kuwait).
13. Likewise, that the U.S. humiliates and maybe tortures whistle-blowers, according to AI (Quantico in 2010 and 2011).
14. It has become clear that Assange and Snowden are well-advised to prevent, under all circumstances, entering the U.S.
15. Manning has provided historians with material which needs to be studied probably for decades.
16. He has taught us the lesson that locking him away will not silence those who criticize previous and current U.S. administrations.
Bob Baer is notoriously wrong. In June he predicted an Israeli attack of Iran's nuclear facilities in advance of Abbas' bid at the UN General Assembly for a vote for unilateral Palestinean State. In the end, Obama once again managed that there was no longer need for it. Anyway, thanks for background information.
As Netanyahu had told us before yesterday, "...the Arab Spring could soon become an Iranian winter. That would be a tragedy. Millions of Arabs have taken to the streets to replace tyranny with liberty, and no one would benefit more than Israel if those committed to freedom and peace would prevail."
Hypocrisy at its best. Not an Iranian, an American winter. Ahead of schedule.
"The HQ of the US Fifth Fleet is at Manama, the capital of Bahrain. But there are other places such a naval base could be sited in the Gulf, including in Qatar."
Send them to your own gulf, that of Mexico.