Saturday, November 16, 2013

[batavia-news] Suap dan Korupsi Merajalela, jangan Malu Solusi Islam (1)

 

 

Suap dan Korupsi Merajalela, jangan Malu Solusi Islam (1)

Oleh : Kang Udo

ADA kegundahan hebat yang pasti dirasakan masyarakat Indonesia saat ini, bagaimana tidak, ketika  masyarakat harus dihadapkan pada kondisi serba sulit akibat kenaikan harga BBM beberapa waktu lalu, disaat yang sama ia disuguhi berita kasus suap dan korupsi yang terjadi di negeri ini begitu sambung-menyambung.

Dalam kurun waktu setahun sampai terakhir artikel ini di tulis saja tercatat ada lima kasus besar suap dan korupsi yang melibatkan beberapa ketua Partai, Jenderal Polisi dan Ketua Mahkamah Konstitusi.

Kita tentu masih ingat kalimat tantangan mantan seorang Ketua Partai Demokrat saat itu yang kini dinon aktifkan, katanya siap digantung di Monas bila terbukti  korupsi satu rupiah saja terkait kasus Hambalang.

Dilanjut dengan terbongkarnya kasus korupsi dan pencucian uang dalam proyek simulator SIM yang dilakukan Kepala Korlantas Irjen Pol DJoko Soesilo, majelis hakim pun memvonis 10 tahun penjara dan denda 500 Juta Rupiah.  Disusul kasus yang seakan membalik logika dan prasangka setelah presiden partai dakwah' digelandang KPK karena dituduh menerima suap proyek penambahan kuota impor daging sapi.

Kasus terus bergulir, Kepala SKK Migas Rudi Rubiandini tiba-tiba mengisi headline berita, ia tertangkap tangan KPK menerima suap dari Kernel Oil, dengan bukti yang telah disita KPK berupa barang bukti senilai 400ribu US$, uang 90 ribu US$ dan 127 ribu Dollar Singapore.

Ibarat bola salju yang terus menggelinding dan membesar, publik dikejutkan pula dengan pemberitaan media yang menyebut Ketua Mahkamah Konstitusi, Akil Mochtar  tertangkap tangan KPK menerima Suap Rp 3 Miliar terkait sengketa Pilkada, bila kasus terakhir ini benar terbukti sungguh sangat sangat.. sangat ironis dan mengecewakan!

Faktanya, Kita Dipenuhi Koruptor

Anda tentu masih ingat dengan kasus  Mafia Pajak Gayus P Tambunan beberapa waktu lalu dan kasus Bank Century, dimana untuk kasus century hingga kini masih gelap, tidak jelas bagaimana ujungnya dan seakan enggan kembali disentuh. Malah belum kasus Century tersebut tuntas sudah disusul beberapa fakta terbaru yang terus bermunculan, ibarat jamur dimusim hujan, ratusan kasus korupsi terus mengemuka, ditahun 2012 saja kemendagri merilis 7 dari 10 Gubernur di Pulau Sumatera tersangkut korupsi (kemendagri.go.id 20/04/2012).

Menurut Direktur Jenderal Otonomi Daerah (Dirjen Otda) Kementerian Dalam Negeri (Kemendagri) Djohermansyah Djohan mengungkapkan, sejak tahun 2004 sampai Februari 2013, sudah ada 291 kepala daerah, baik gubernur/bupati/walikota yang terjerat kasus korupsi.

Fakta serupa juga dikatakan Wakil Ketua KPK Adnan Pandu Praja, ia membeberkan temuan bahwa Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia (DPR RI) merupakan lembaga terkorup kedua sesudah kepolisian.

Jika dibandingkan dengan negara-negara Asia-Pasifik, hanya Indonesia yang parlemennya masuk ke dalam lembaga terkorup. Saat ini, koruptor terbanyak yang ditangani KPK adalah anggota Dewan. Terdapat lebih dari 65 anggota Dewan yang telah dibui karena tindak pidana tersebut. "Memang anggota parlemen jadi persoalan di negeri ini," ujar Adnan.*/bersambung klik di sini

Penulis adalah karyawan swasta Migas tinggal di Garut- Jawa Barat

Rep:
Anonymous

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[batavia-news] Atasi Krisis dan Kebuntuan Politik, Parpol Islam Serukan Dialog

 

 
 

Atasi Krisis dan Kebuntuan Politik, Parpol Islam Serukan Dialog

voa
Mohamad Damati (tengah), pengacara yang bertanggungjawab atas pembelaan Presiden terguling Mesir, Mohammad Mursy, dalam konferensi pers di Kairo, 13 November 2013

Hidayatullah.com--Sebuah aliansi yang dipimpin Al Ikhwan al Muslimun di Mesir menyatakan siap melakukan dialog nasional untuk mengakhiri kebuntuan politik di negara itu.

Pernyataan aliansi tersebut tidak menyertakan tuntutan dipulihkannya jabatan presiden terguling Presiden Mohamed Mursy dan menawarkan perundingan untuk mengakhiri kekacauan mematikan sejak penggulingan di negara itu.

Dikutip Voice of America, koalisi hari Sabtu (16/11/2013) juga menyerukan pembebasan para tahanan yang ditahan setelah digulingkannya Presiden Mohammad Mursy pada 3 Juli.

Mereka juga meminta pengakhiran tindakan keras keamanan terhadap para anggota Ikhwan, serta pembukaan kembali saluran-saluran televisi yang mendukung mereka.

"Koalisi menyerukan semua kekuatan revolusioner dan partai-partai politik dan tokoh patriotik untuk memasuki dialog yang mendalam agar bisa keluar dari krisis saat ini," sebut pernyataan koalisi, seperti dikutip dari AFP.

Selama ini, hampir setiap pekan Koalisi Islam terus melakukan tindakan protes, meski dibayangi reaksi keras aparat Mesir. Dalam pernyataannya, Koalisi Islam bersikeras untuk tetap melakukan "perlawanan damai", namun mereka juga mengatakan ingin "konsensus untuk kepentingan publik negara".

Usulan itu muncul setelah lebih dari 1.000 orang, yang sebagian besar adalah pendukung Mursy, tewas dalam bentrokan dengan polisi dan ribuan lainnya telah ditangkap. Banyak pemimpin Ikhwan termasuk Mursy sendiri telah diadili.

"Kami tidak memiliki persyaratan dan begitu juga seharusnya dengan mereka (pemerintah)," kata Imam Youssef, Pemimpin Partai Asala, yang merupakan bagian dari koalisi Islam. Namun, dia menambahkan, bahwa pembicaraan harus mengarah pada solusi "demokratis" dan koalisi ingin mereka memulai dalam waktu dua pekan.

"Koalisi siap untuk membahas semua solusi yang mengarah pada stabilitas. Kaum Islamis siap untuk menghormati tuntutan jutaan demonstran yang turun ke jalan menyerukan penggulingan Mursy," kata Youssef.

"Kami ingin solusi demokratis dan itu tidak berarti kita harus berada di kekuasaan," tambahnya. Ketika ditanya apakah Koalisi Islam akan bersikeras agar Mursy kembali ke kursi presiden, Youssef menjawab, "Kami tidak ingin kemajuan untuk diri kita sendiri."

Mohammad Bishr, anggota terkemuka Ikhwan, mengatakan kepada para wartawan bahwa prakarsa itu disusun selama dua pekan.

Seperti diketahui, koalisi partai-partai Islam membentuk Aliansi Ummat atau Aliansi Nasional yang dibentuk hari Sabtu (9/3/2013). Aliansi terdiri dari tujuh partai politik Islam di Mesir guna melindungi "pencapaian Revolusi 25 Januari" dan menghadapi pihak-pihak yang ingin "menginterupsi jalan konstitusional yang memungkinkan rakyat memilih pemimpin.*

Rep:
Panji Islam
Editor: Cholis Akba

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[batavia-news] Uang Baru Bertuliskan NKRI Siap Beredar Tahun Depan + BI Gandeng TNI AL dan AU untuk Distribusikan Rupiah Hingga ke Perbatasan

 

res : RIS berubah menjadi RI dan sekarang menjadi NKRI [Negara Kleptokrasi Republik Indonesia]. Cocok bin bagus gagah perkasa. Bagaimana kalau dibilang Negara Konyol Republik Indonesia? 
 
 

Uang Baru Bertuliskan NKRI Siap Beredar Tahun Depan

Rista Rama Dhany - detikfinance
Minggu, 17/11/2013 13:56 WIB
 
 
Jakarta -Bank Indonesia (BI) akan menerbitkan rupiah cetakan terbaru dengan nama uang rupiah Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI) sesuai amanat peraturan perundang-undangan

"Uang baru kita nanti ada frase NKRI, Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, disemua pecahan nantinya," kata Deputi Gubernur Bank Indonesia, Ronald Waas ditemui disela acara Pencanangan Gerakan Ekonomi Syariah di Silang Monas, Minggu (17/11/2013).

Ronald mengungkapkan uang NKRI ini akan diterbitkan pada 17 Agustus 2014.

"Terbitnya pada 17 Agustus 2014, selain ada frase NKRI nya uang ini juga nantinya akan ada tanda tangan Menteri Keuangan dan Gubernur Bank Indonesia," ujarnya.

Setelah uang NKRI terbit maka akan dilakukan penarikan secara bertahap terhadap untuk uang rupiah cetakan lama yang sudah beredar.

"Uang yang ada nantinya ditarik secara bertahap dan akan berlaku sampai sekian tahun," katanya.
 
+++++
 
 

BI Gandeng TNI AL dan AU untuk Distribusikan Rupiah Hingga ke Perbatasan

Rista Rama Dhany - detikfinance
Minggu, 17/11/2013 13:03 WIB
 
Jakarta -Bank Indonesia (BI) menggandeng TNI Angkatan Laut (AL) dan Angkatan Udara (AU) untuk mendistribusikan mata uang rupiah bisa merata ke seluruh pelosok Tanah Air. Memerlukan infrastruktur dan waktu untuk mendistribusikan rupiah hingga kepelosok dan daerah perbatasan karena luasnya wilayah Indonesia.

"Untuk bisa mendistribusikan uang rupiah hingga kepelosok daerah dan daerah perbatasan kami menggandeng TNI," kata Deputi Gubernur BI Ronald Waas ditemui di sela-sela Pencanangan Gerakan Ekonomi Syariah di Lapangan Silang Monas, Jakarta Pusat, Minggu (17/11/2013).

Ronald mengungkapkan sebelumnya BI mengandeng TNI Angkatan laut untuk mendistribusikan rupiah, dalam waktu dekat pihaknya akan melakukan kerjasama dengan TNI AU.

"Dalam waktu dekat kita akan kerjasama lagi dengan TNI AU dan kita perluas lagi kerjasama dengan pemilik moda transportasi di daerah." ujarnya.

Alasan kerjasama dengan TNI AU dan pemilik moda transportasi di daerah ini dilakukan untuk lebih menjangkau daerah yang oleh TNI AU belum bisa dilakukan.

"Misalnya di Papua, kan di tengah-tengahnya tidak ada laut, sehingga memerlukan kerjasama dengan TNI AU melalui udara, tapi kadang ada beberapa hal yang tidak bisa terjangkau juga misalnya karena mendung dan cuaca kurang baik sehingga pesawat tidak bisa terbang, maka dengan kerjasama pemilik moda transportasi distribusi uang bisa tetap bisa dilakukan," katanya.
 
 
 
 
 

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[media-jabar] Siaran Pers Sikapi Aksi Seremonial Bupati Bandung Tentang Pencemaran DAS Citarum

 

Siaran Pers

AKSI BERSAMA JANGAN HANYA SEREMONIAL DAN PENCITRAAN PUBLIK BUPATI BANDUNG BELAKA…!

 

Bandung, 17 November 2013


Menyikapi aksi bersama yang akan dilakukan pada hari Senin, tanggal 18 November 2013 di lapangan Toserba Borma Desa Sukamaju Kecamatan Majalaya Kabupaten Bandung, dengan agenda pemancangan plang peringatan dan penandatanganan spanduk dukungan aksi bersama penyelamatan Sungai Citarum yang akan dihadiri oleh Bupati Bandung TIDAK SEKEDAR SEREMONIAL BELAKA, HANYA KAMPANYE DAN PENCITRAAN PUBLIK TANPA ASKI NYATA PEMERINTAH.

Maka kami dan berbagai organisasi, komunitas dan masyarakat korban pencemaran pabrik di Kabupaten Bandung Hulu Citarum menyampaikan beberapa hal :

  • Sesungguhnya gagasan aksi bersama yang sejak awal digagas oleh masyarakat dan komunitas korban pencemaran bukan aksi seremonial yang dilakukan seperti ini namun aksi nyata di mana pemerintah dan Bupati Bandung melakukan aksi tegas penindakan hukum bagi para pelaku pencemaran dan penutupan saluran-saluran pencemaran dan melakukan upaya pemulihan lingkungan hidup akibat pencemaran yang dilakukan oleh perusahaan/pabrik.
  • Aksi bersama ini jangan hanya seremonial dan pencitraan publik yang menguntungkan bupati belaka namun dilakukan dengan aksi nyata di lapangan untuk menghentikan pencemaran limbah pabrik yang semakin tidak terkendali dan membabi buta.
  • Seharusnya pemancangan plang peringatan dilakukan di depan /halaman perusahaan atau pabrik berada.
  • Kami akan mengawal komitmen Bupati Bandung untuk menghentikan pencemaran dan menindaktegas pelaku pencemaran limbah industri, namun jika dalam satu bulan pencemaran limbah ke media air, sungai dan sekolan maka masyarakat korban, komunitas dan organisasi lingkungan akan melakukan gugatan dan menghentikan pencemaran limbah pabrik  dengan cara warga /masyarakat sendiri.
  • Sampai saat ini juga, warga korban yang melakukan berbagai pelaporan terus di intimidasi oleh pihak perusahaan dan pihak-pihak tertentu atas nama keamanan bahkan ditemukan muncul spanduk2 yang berisi ancaman bagi warga yang melakukan aksi penolakan pencemaran. Keselamatan dan keamanan warga korban pun semakin terancam.

 

Dalam momentum aksi bersama ini juga kami menyatakan sikap :

  1. Mendesak jaminan perlindungan pemerintah terhadap warga yang aktif melakukan pengawasan dan pemantauan pencemaran di lapangan
  2. Menuntut tanggung jawab negara (pemerintah pusat, propinsi dan kabupaten) untuk melakukan tindakan tegas menghentikan pencemaran limbah pabrik di DAS Citarum
  3. Menuntut moratorium perijinan dan perluasan Pabrik di Kawasan Majalaya, Solokanjeruk dan sekitarnya di Kabupaten Bandung dan Kawasan Citarum Hulu

 

Demikian, terimakasih.

Bandung, 17 November 2013

Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indinesia ( WALHI Jawa Barat )

 

 

Dadan Ramdan

Direktur Eksekutif Walhi Jawa Barat

082116759688



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"Selamatkan Rakyat dan Pulihkan Lingkungan Hidup Jawa Barat"
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 Telp/Fax. +62 22 250 7740
 E-mail : jabar@walhi.or.id, walhijabar@gmail.com, walhi@walhijabar.org
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 Donasi Publik Bank Mandiri No Rekening 131-00-0992585-2 atas nama Walhi Jawa Barat
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[batavia-news] Penangkapan tenaga kerja asing di Arab Saudi

 

 
 
 
Penangkapan tenaga kerja asing di Arab Saudi
 
 
Ameera Sabtu, 13 Muharram 1435 H / 16 November 2013 23:28
 
 
Ilustrasi
 
RIYADH (Arrahmah.com) – Ketegangan terjadi di Arab Saudi setelah pemerintah Arab Saudi menyerukan penangkapan terhadap para pekerja asing, termasuk pekerja yang berasal dari Indonesia di Arab Saudi, sebagaimana dirilis oleh Deutsche Welle, Sabtu (16/11/2013)
 
Terlihat Sampah-sampah menumpuk di jalan-jalan di sekitar masjid Nabawi, tempat dimana makam nabi Muhamad berada. Toko bahan makanan tutup dan hampir setengah dari perusahaan konstruksi kecil di Arab Saudi berhenti beroperasi.
 
Kekacauan ini diakibatkan oleh para pekerja asing yang selama ini menjadi tumpuan banyak usaha di Arab Saudi melarikan diri, bersembunyi atau berada di bawah penahanan. Aksi ini dipicu tindakan tegas pemerintah Arab Saudi yang melakukan penangkapan yang mentargetkan 9 juta buruh migran 4 November lalu.
 
Aturan imigrasi longgar yang berlaku selama beberapa dekade telah memungkinkan para pekerja imigran di Arab Saudi untuk melakukan pekerjaan yang umumnya dihindari oleh warga Arab Saudi karena pekerjaan itu bergaji rendah atau tak nyaman dikerjakan.
 
Alasan Penangkapan Pekerja Migran
 
Saat jumlah pengganguran di Arab Saudi mencapai 12,1 persen akhir tahun lalu, seperti yang diberitakan oleh IMF, pihak berwenang Arab Saudi mengatakan akan mulai melakukan pengusiran pekerja migran keluar Arab Saudi. Tindakan ini dilakukan dengan tujuan agar lapangan pekerjaan bisa lebih banyak terbuka bagi warga Arab Saudi.
 
Mayoritas pekerja imigran yang bekerja di Arab Saudi berasal dari India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Filipina, Mesir dan Yaman. Dikatakan pekerja imigran yang sebagian besar datang dari Afrika Timur bekerja di Arab Saudi tanpa visa. Mereka datang ke Arab Saudi setelah menempuh perjalanan berbahaya dengan menggunakan perahu melewati teluk Arden ke Yaman tempat dimana mereka menyebrang secara illegal masuk ke Arab Saudi dengan bantuan para penyelundup.
 
Semenjak pemerintah Arab Saudi mengeluarkan peringatan awal ini tahun, ratusan ribu pekerja asing telah dideportasi. Meski demikian beberapa pekerja migran bisa terhindar dari tindakan penangkapan karena berhasil mendapatkan visa melalui program amnesti. Sayangnya program amnesti ini telah ditutup minggu lalu akibatnya sekitar 33.000 orang masuk penjara, dan banyak lainnya menyembunyikan diri.
 
Pro Konta Penangkapan
 
Seorang peneliti organisasi pemantau HAM di Timur Tengah, Adam Coogle mengatakan, jika Arab Saudi secara serius ingin menangani masalah ini, pemerintah seharusnya memperbaiki hukum perburuhan dan tidak menjadikan para pekerja migran sebagai sasaran . Sistem sponsor kerja yang ada di Arab Saudi , yang mengatur para pekerja migran, memberikan kewenangan pada pemberi kerja untuk memutuskan apakah para pekerja tersebut boleh meninggalkan Arab Saudi atau mengganti pekerjaan mereka. Kondisi inilah yang telah memaksa banyak pekerja asing di Arab Saudi untuk melakukan pekerjaan illegal. " Semua sistem yang mengatur soal tenaga kerja asing di Arab Saudi telah gagal" kata Adam Coogle.
 
Seorang pemilik sebuah perusahaan konstruksi bernilai jutaan dolar mengatakan, ia harus menghentikan semua proyek-proyeknya karena ia bukan sponsor resmi dari sebagian besar pekerja migran yang bekerja untuknya. Meski demikian para pekerja migran tersebut mendapatkan lebih banyak uang dengan bekerja sebagai freelance. " Anda tidak bisa hanya seperti itu, memaksa mereka keluar " katanya tanpa mau disebutkan nama karena takut diburu oleh pemerintah.
 
Walau merasa rugi akibat para pekerja migran tak lagi mengerjakan pekerjaan sehari-hari yang biasa mereka lakukan, banyak warga Arab Saudi yang memberikan dukungan terhadap tindakan penangkapan yang dilakukan oleh pihak kepolisian.
 
Akan tetapi semangat nasionalisme berlebihan telah memicu sebagian warga Arab Saudi yang agaknya telah muak dengan kedatangan orang asing, untuk bertindak main hakim serndiri. Warga Arab Saudi tetap melakukan penangkapan pekerja imigran, meski pihak kepolisian telah menyerukan larangan penangkapan pekerja migran oleh warga Arab Saudi. (ameera/arrahmah.com)
 
- See more at: http://www.arrahmah.com/news/2013/11/16/penangkapan-tenaga-kerja-asing-arab-saudi.html#sthash.BNgB6hm4.dpuf

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[batavia-news] Russia fears return of fighters waging jihad – Muslims from North Caucasus see jihad in Syria

 

 

Russia fears return of fighters waging jihad – Muslims from North Caucasus see jihad in Syria

Dead bodies of Syrian rebels are seen on the ground after fighting with Syrian government forces

Dead bodies of Syrian rebels are seen on the ground after fighting with Syrian government forces

NOVOSASITLI: A scrawny 15-year-old this summer became the first from his deeply religious Muslim village in Russia's southern Dagestan province to die fighting alongside rebels in Syria. Some regard him as a martyr for joining the rebels in the fight against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad who is supported by Russia. Moscow now fears that hundreds of Russian-born militants it says are fighting in Syria will return experienced in warfare to join an insurgency in Dagestan and its other North Caucasus provinces by militants fighting for an Islamic state. Violence in the region claims lives almost daily. Fifteen men from Novosasitli alone have died in shootouts with Russian forces in the last four years, locals say. Analysts say fighters could also try to strike during the 2014 Winter Olympics in February in nearby Sochi. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his reputation on the Games, has said militants returning from Syria pose "a very real" threat and signed off on a law this month to jail any who come home. "The militant groups did not come out of nowhere, and they will not vanish into thin air," Putin said on Sept 23. In Novosasitli, where walls are tagged with graffiti supporting rebels fighting for an Islamic state, villagers say at least eight out of 2,000 inhabitants have gone to Syria. "There are whole brigades of our boys there," village council member Akhmed Khaibulayev said. Three of them were arrested by Russian forces on their way home via a land route crossing the border from Azerbaijan back into Dagestan, he said, but five have returned, underscoring the ease with which Russians travel to and from Syria. "They are at home now, waiting for when the security forces come for them," Khaibulayev said. Anxious parents try to hold back their sons. "A father knows his son. I told him to leave his passport with me. When he refused, I took it away," a man dressed in a beige tunic and skullcap said, asking not to be named for fear of reprisal by Russian security forces. Despite his warnings, his 23-year-old son, whom he boasts knew the Koran by heart, left two months ago for the battlefield. "I don't know if he will come back," he said. A photograph, sent by fighters, of the scarred, skinny corpse of the local 15-year-old killed there is still being passed around the village. Stones are placed over his eyelids. In the comment thread under a photo of the smooth-chinned youth on a Facebook page he is called a hero and a martyr. "He went to Syria because he couldn't stand that Assad and his army were killing children," said a villager, who locals said also fought in Syria and who refused to be named. The boy had studied in Egypt before joining other Russian-born militants in Syria, and his family only learned he had gone to fight there after his death, locals said. His father, who lost an arm in Syria when he went to see his son's grave, was briefly detained by security forces in August when he returned home. He refused to speak to Reuters.

HOLY WAR
The sons of Novosasitli grew up playing "cops and insurgents" in the streets. Russian rule is tenuous with residents describing police as the enemy, the state as corrupt and say they manage their own affairs under Sharia law. Some have had relatives, classmates or neighbors join Islamist insurgency in Russia, rooted in separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. The militants adhere to Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam. They do not have the support of all Salafis – some disapprove of their racketeering ways or do not view their attacks on police and officials as a lawful jihad. The battle raging in Syria is different. It is widely seen in the majority Sunni Muslim region as a "true" holy war against Assad's Alawite-dominated government. But voicing that support for Syrian rebels in Russia is dangerous. A popular young imam who had raised funds to help Syrian refugees has fled to Turkey after coming under pressure from law enforcement. Media with links to police claimed he was inciting youths to join the conflict. The doors of a newly built, emeralddomed madrasa he ran in Novosasitli now stand shut, empty of students. "There's no obligation for Muslims to go from here to Syria," says Abdurakhim Magomedov, 71, a Salafi scholar in Novosasitli. "But if someone wants to go, no one can stop him."

THREAT TO OLYMPICS?
The flow of Russians from the North Caucasus going to Syria increased this year, officials and locals say, as pleas for help from rebels grew more acute following a poison gas attack in the suburbs of Damascus. In June, Russia's FSB security service said 200 Russians were fighting with Al-Qaeda affiliated groups in Syria. By September, it said as many as 400 Russians were there. "They will come back, and that poses a huge threat," FSB deputy director Sergei Smirnov, said on Sept 20. Russian estimates of the number of fighters may not be accurate, experts say, because of the large numbers of its citizens studying abroad or who have emigrated to Europe, Jordan, Turkey and elsewhere. Some gained skill and experience, highly-valued by the Syrian rebels, in fighting the separatist wars in Chechnya in 1994-96 and 1999-2000, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Experts say the number of Russians in Syria may be higher. Russia's protection of Assad, with weapons supplies and diplomatic backing, has also left many angry at Putin. "Muslims the world over revile Putin for his support of Assad," said Dzhabrail Magomedov, one of some two dozen in Novosasitli, who studied at a religious school in Damascus. This summer the Chechen-born Caucasus insurgent leader Doku Umarov urged fighters to use "maximum force" to sabotage the Olympics. His cry was echoed by fighters in Syria, who called on Muslims in the North Caucasus to wage jihad at home rather than joining them. Russia has a history of recent militant attacks. Suicide bombings in the past two years killed dozens at a Moscow airport and subway. More than 380 people, mainly school children, were killed in the siege of a primary school in Beslan in 2004. "For such a jihad, one, two people is enough," a Russian-speaking rebel says in a YouTube address from Syria dated July 30, flanked by seven camouflage-clad fighters armed with heavy machine guns and a grenade launcher. Security is tight around Olympic host city Sochi, which abuts the North Caucasus region. "Do you know where Sochi is? We have enough of our own rebels there," said Sergey Goncharov, a former deputy head of the FSB's elite Alfa counter-insurgency unit. "If they now get reinforcement from Syria, our security services will be hard put to prevent them from ruining the Olympics." An amendment to Russia's anti-terrorism law, submitted by Putin and rushed through parliament after a deadly bus bombing killed six people in southern Russia on Oct 21, makes those who fight abroad criminally accountable at home. Under the law, training "with the aim of carrying out terrorist activity" is punishable by 10 years in jail and being part of an armed group abroad "whose aims are contrary to Russian interests" by six years in jail

'OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS'
Since Putin rose to power 13 years ago and crushed a Chechen separatist revolt, he has said he would not allow the Caucasus provinces to split from Russia. But the nationalist cause that inspired Chechens to revolt after collapse of the Soviet Union has mutated into an Islamic one that spread to nearby Caucasus mountain lands. Defeated in Chechnya, rebels now launch near-daily attacks in Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. Today, the ranks of fighters are filled by youths disillusioned by police brutality, joblessness, corruption and the perceived persecution of religious conservatives. Empathy for fellow Sunni Muslims caught in the bloodshed in Syria is especially sharp among Chechens, who see in it echoes of their own suffering in two wars for secession from Russia. "They also killed our mothers, brothers and grandparents," said Akhmed, a 21-year-old Chechen, in the village of Berdykel, near the provincial capital, Grozny. "We want to help. They are our Muslim brothers." In response, Chechen authorities have banned wakes for anyone killed in Syria, and Muslim clerics speak out in mosques and schools, casting the war as a political struggle not a religious one. A local government minister was fired when one of his family left for Syria, a source who knew of the incident said. Chechen-language TV aired the apology of a 26-year-old, who said he had made a mistake fighting to Syria and doubted the war was a true jihad because of infighting among the rebels. "I got scared that I would die not on the right path, so I came back," he said, head bowed before Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. At his yellow-gated home in Berdykel, a relative said his family no longer let him live at home. "It's very painful for us," said a young male relative.— Reuters

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[batavia-news] Arafat’s murder is no mystery

 

 
 

Arafat's murder is no mystery



Uri Avnery

Published — Saturday 16 November 2013

 

From the first moment, I did not have the slightest doubt that Yasser Arafat was assassinated. It was a matter of simple logic.
On the way back from the funeral, I happened upon Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Knesset for the nationalist Arab Balad party, who is a highly qualified doctoral pharmacist. We exchanged views and came to the same conclusion. The findings of the Swiss experts last week only confirmed my conviction.
First of all, a simple fact: People don't just die for no reason. I visited Arafat a few weeks before it happened. He seemed in reasonably good health. Upon leaving, I remarked to Rachel, my wife, that he seemed more sharp and alert than during our last visit. When he suddenly became very ill, there was no obvious cause. The doctors at the French military hospital, to which he was transferred at the insistence of Suha, his wife, and where he died, conducted a thorough examination of his body. They found no explanation for his condition. Nothing. That was very strange. Arafat was the leader of his people, the de facto head of a state, and one can be sure that the French doctors left no stone unturned to diagnose the case. That left only radiation or poison. Why was no poison detected at the autopsy? The answer is simple: In order to detect a poison, one must know what one is looking for. The list of poisons it almost unlimited, and the routine search is restricted to a small number. Arafat's body was not examined for radioactive polonium. Who had the opportunity to administer the poison? Well, practically anybody.
During my many visits with him, I always wondered at the lax security precautions. At our first meeting, in besieged Beirut, I wondered at the trust he put in me. It was known at the time that dozens of Mossad agents and Phalangist spies were combing the city for him. He could not be sure that I was not a Mossad agent myself, or that I was not followed, or that I was not unwittingly carrying some locating device.
Later, in Tunis, the security search of his visitors was perfunctory. The security precautions of the Israeli prime minister were immeasurably more stringent. In the Ramallah Mukata'a ("compound"), no security measures were added. I had meals with him several times, and wondered again at his openness. American and other foreign guests, who were (or seemed to be) pro-Palestinian activists were invited by him freely, sat next to him and could easily have slipped poison into his food. Arafat would joke with his guests and feed them choice tidbits with his hand.
Certain poisons do not need food. Slight physical contact is enough. Yet this man was one of the most threatened persons in the world. He had many deadly enemies; half a dozen secret services were bent on his destruction. How could he be so lax? When I remonstrated with him, he told me that he believed in divine protection. Once, when he was flying in a private jet from Chad to Libya, the pilot announced that the fuel had run out. He was going to crash land in the middle of the desert. Arafat's bodyguards covered him with cushions and formed a ring around him. They were killed, but he survived almost without a scratch. Since then he became even more fatalistic. He was a devout Muslim. He believed that Allah had entrusted him with the task of liberating the Palestinian people. So who carried out the assassination? For me, there cannot be any real doubt. Though many had a motive, only one person had both the means and a profound and lasting hatred for him — Ariel Sharon. Sharon was furious when Arafat slipped through his fingers in Beirut. Here was his quarry, so near yet so far. The Arab-American diplomat Philip Habib managed to make an arrangement, which allowed the PLO fighters, including Arafat, to withdraw with honor from the city, with their arms.
I was lying on the roof of a warehouse in Beirut Harbor when the PLO troops, flags flying, were driving by to the ships. I did not see Arafat. His men were hiding him in their midst.
Since then, Sharon made no secret of his determination to kill him. And when Sharon was resolved to do something, he never, but never, gave up. Even in much smaller matters, if he were thwarted, he would return to his effort again and again and again, until he succeeded.
I knew Sharon well. I knew of his determination. Twice, when I felt that Sharon was nearing his goal, I went with Rachel and some colleagues to the Mukata'a to serve as a human shield. Later we had the satisfaction of reading an interview with Sharon, in which he complained that he had not been able to carry out the planned assassination because "some Israelis were staying there." For Israelis, Arafat was the embodiment of the Palestinian people, an object of abysmal hatred. He was hated more than any other human being after Adolf Hitler and Adolf Eichmann. It was he who had led the armed struggle. And when he turned toward a peaceful settlement, recognized the State of Israel and signed the Oslo Accords, he was even more hated. Peace was bound to give back a lot of territories to the Arabs, and what could be worse?
For all those years, an entire army of paid propaganda hacks conducted a relentless demonization campaign against his person. Every conceivable accusation was thrown at him. The assertion that he had AIDS, which is now so prominent in the Israeli covert propaganda effort, was invented then in order to mobilize homophobic prejudices. Needless to say, no evidence of homosexuality was ever presented. And the French doctors found no trace of AIDS.
Is the Israeli government capable of deciding to carry out such a deed? It is an established fact that it is. In September 1997, an Israeli hit squad was sent to Amman to assassinate Khalid Mishal, the Hamas leader. The chosen instrument was levofentanyl, a deadly poison that leaves no traces and produces effects like a heart attack. It was administered by a slight physical touch.
The act was bungled. The killers were detected by passers-by and fled into the Israeli Embassy, where they were besieged. King Hussein was furious. He threatened to hang the perpetrators unless a life-saving antidote was provided at once. The then Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, caved in and sent the chief of the Mossad to Amman with the required medicine. Mishal was saved.
God knows how many un-bungled murders have been carried out this way.
Why didn't Sharon kill Arafat before? After all, the Palestinian leader was besieged for a very long time in his Ramallah compound. I myself saw Israeli soldiers a few meters away from his office.
The answer is political. The US was afraid that if Israel was seen killing the PLO chief, the region would explode against the US. George Bush the son forbade it. The answer was to do it in a way that could not be traced to Israel.
This, by the way, was quite usual for Sharon. A few weeks before his 1982 invasion of Lebanon, he told the US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, about his plan. Haig forbade it — unless there was a credible provocation. Lo and behold, a dastardly attempt was made on the life of the Israeli ambassador in London, the provocation was duly deemed to be intolerable and the war started. For the same reason, the Netanyahu government now strenuously denies Israeli involvement in the assassination of Arafat. Instead of bragging about the successful operation, our powerful propaganda machine asserts that the Swiss experts are incompetent or lying (probably they are also anti-Semites), and that the conclusions are wrong. A respected Israeli professor is trotted out to declare that it is all nonsense. Even the good old story about AIDS is called out of retirement. Sharon himself, in his endless coma, cannot react. But his old assistants, all of them seasoned liars, repeat their mendacious stories. To my mind, the assassination of Arafat was a crime against Israel.
Arafat was the man who was ready to make peace and who was able to get the Palestinian people to accept it. He also laid down the terms: A Palestinian state with borders based on the Green Line, with its capital in East Jerusalem. This is exactly what his assassins aimed to prevent.

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