“the oppressed and their oppressors” – A Compelling Account of Injustice

Hello everyone

I’m going to get straight to the point. Tarek Mehanna is just another Muslim man whose so-called terrifying beliefs have landed him in front of a jury and judge. That being said this domain was named “Redefining Freedom” for a reason. It was not picked due its inducing nature, but because what it means to be “free” is different to so many people. Tarek Mehanna is one man who is a living embodiment of our definition; to be able to know the truth, to be able to be honest to yourself and not live a lie; to not to live in a shroud. To be able to see things as they are and stand in the way of oppression with your actions, or with your tongue, or with your heart. Indeed there is a battle between the oppressed and the oppressors, and ignorance, comfort and fear is what lets this battle continue. Ignorance is not bliss; it is harmful and dangerous to the human being inside you and the human begins around you. So I am compelled to show you Tarek’s final statement before he was sentenced to 17 years in jail over false claims. Please do yourself justice and read it, do not be intimidated by its length; you will find it is indeed compelling.

Source: http://www.salon.com/2012/04/13/the_real_criminals_in_the_tarek_mehanna_case/singleton/

TAREK’S SENTENCING STATEMENT
APRIL 12, 2012

Read to Judge O’Toole during his sentencing, April 12th 2012.

In the name of God the most gracious the most merciful Exactly four years ago this month I was finishing my work shift at a
local hospital. As I was walking to my car I was approached by two federal agents. They said that I had a choice to make: I could do things the easy way, or I could do them the hard way. The “easy ” way, as they explained, was that I would become an informant for the government, and if I did so I would never see the inside of a courtroom or a prison cell. As for the hard way, this is it. Here I
am, having spent the majority of the four years since then in a solitary cell the size of a small closet, in which I am locked down
for 23 hours each day. The FBI and these prosecutors worked very hard-and the government spent millions of tax dollars – to put me in that cell, keep me there, put me on trial, and finally to have me stand here before you today to be sentenced to even more time in a cell.

In the weeks leading up to this moment, many people have offered suggestions as to what I should say to you. Some said I should plead for mercy in hopes of a light sentence, while others suggested I would be hit hard either way. But what I want to do is just talk about myself for a few minutes.

When I refused to become an informant, the government responded by charging me with the “crime” of supporting the mujahideen fighting the occupation of Muslim countries around the world. Or as they like to call them, “terrorists.” I wasn’t born in a Muslim country, though. I was born and raised right here in America and this angers many people: how is it that I can be an American and believe the things I believe, take the positions I take? Everything a man is exposed to in his environment becomes an ingredient that shapes his outlook, and I’m no different.  So, in more ways than one, it’s because of America that I am who I am.

When I was six, I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood, I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I even saw an ehical dimension to The Catcher in the Rye.

By the time I began high school and took a real history class, I was learning just how real that paradigm is in the world. I learned about the Native Americans and what befell them at the hands of European settlers. I learned about how the descendents of those European settlers were in turn oppressed under the tyranny of King George III.

I read about Paul Revere, Tom Paine, and how Americans began an armed insurgency against British forces – an insurgency we now celebrate as the American revolutionary war. As a kid I even went on school field trips just blocks away from where we sit now. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, and the fight against slavery in this country. I learned about Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and the struggles of the labor unions, working class, and poor. I learned about Anne Frank, the Nazis, and how they persecuted minorities and imprisoned dissidents. I learned about Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King,
and the civil rights struggle.

I learned about Ho Chi Minh, and how the Vietnamese fought for decades to liberate themselves from one invader after another. I learned about Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Everything I learned in those years confirmed what I was beginning to learn when I was six: that throughout history, there has been a constant struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. With each struggle I learned about, I found myself consistently siding with the oppressed, and consistently respecting those who stepped up to defend them -regardless of nationality, regardless of religion. And I never threw my class notes away. As I stand here speaking, they are in a neat pile in my bedroom closet at home.

From all the historical figures I learned about, one stood out above the rest. I was impressed be many things about Malcolm X, but above all, I was fascinated by the idea of transformation, his transformation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie “X” by Spike Lee, it’s over three and a half hours long, and the Malcolm at the beginning is different from the Malcolm at the end. He starts off as an illiterate criminal, but ends up a husband, a father, a protective and eloquent leader for his people, a disciplined Muslim performing the Hajj in Makkah, and finally, a martyr. Malcolm’s life taught me that Islam is not something inherited; it’s not a culture or ethnicity. It’s a way of life, a state of mind anyone can choose no matter where they come from or how they were raised.

This led me to look deeper into Islam, and I was hooked. I was just a teenager, but Islam answered the question that the greatest scientific minds were clueless about, the question that drives the rich & famous to depression and suicide from being unable to answer: what is the purpose of life? Why do we exist in this Universe? But it also answered the question of how we’re supposed to exist. And since there’s no hierarchy or priesthood, I could directly and immediately begin digging into the texts of the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, to begin the journey of understanding what this was all about, the implications of Islam for me as a human being, as an individual, for the people around me, for the world; and the more I learned, the more I valued Islam like a piece of gold. This was when I was a teen, but even today, despite the pressures of the last few years, I stand here before you, and everyone else in this courtroom, as a very proud Muslim.

With that, my attention turned to what was happening to other Muslims in different parts of the world. And everywhere I looked, I saw the powers that be trying to destroy what I loved. I learned what the Soviets had done to the Muslims of Afghanistan. I learned what the Serbs had done to the Muslims of Bosnia. I learned what the Russians were doing to the Muslims of Chechnya. I learned what Israel had done in Lebanon – and what it continues to do in Palestine – with the full backing of the United States. And I learned what America itself was doing to Muslims. I learned about the Gulf War, and the depleted uranium bombs that killed thousands and caused cancer rates to skyrocket across Iraq.

I learned about the American-led sanctions that prevented food, medicine, and medical equipment from entering Iraq, and how – according to the United Nations – over half a million children perished as a result. I remember a clip from a ’60 Minutes‘ interview of Madeline Albright where she expressed her view that these dead children were “worth it.” I watched on September 11th as a group of people felt driven to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings from their outrage at the deaths of these children. I watched as America then attacked and invaded Iraq directly. I saw the effects of ’Shock & Awe’ in the opening day of the invasion – the children in hospital wards with shrapnel from American missiles sticking but of their foreheads (of course, none of this was shown on CNN).

I learned about the town of Haditha, where 24 Muslims – including a 76-year old man in a wheelchair, women, and even toddlers – were shot up and blown up in their bedclothes as the slept by US Marines. I learned about Abeer al-Janabi, a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl gang-raped by five American soldiers, who then shot her and her family in the head, then set fire to their corpses. I just want to point out, as you can see, Muslim women don’t even show their hair to unrelated men. So try to imagine this young girl from a conservative village with her dress torn off, being sexually assaulted by not one, not two, not three, not four, but five soldiers. Even today, as I sit in my jail cell, I read about the drone strikes which continue to kill Muslims daily in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Just last month, we all heard about the seventeen Afghan Muslims – mostly mothers and their kids – shot to death by an American soldier, who also set fire to their corpses.

These are just the stories that make it to the headlines, but one of the first concepts I learned in Islam is that of loyalty, of
brotherhood – that each Muslim woman is my sister, each man is my brother, and together, we are one large body who must protect each other. In other words, I couldn’t see these things beings done to my brothers & sisters – including by America – and remain neutral. My sympathy for the oppressed continued, but was now more personal, as was my respect for those defending them.

I mentioned Paul Revere – when he went on his midnight ride, it was for the purpose of warning the people that the British were marching to Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, then on to Concord to confiscate the weapons stored there by the Minuteman. By the time they got to Concord, they found the Minuteman waiting for them, weapons in hand. They fired at the British, fought them, and beat them. From that battle came the American Revolution. There’s an Arabic word to describe what those Minutemen did that day. That word is: JIHAD, and this is what my trial was about.

All those videos and translations and childish bickering over ‘Oh, he translated this paragraph’ and ‘Oh, he edited that sentence,’ and all those exhibits revolved around a single issue: Muslims who were defending themselves against American soldiers doing to them exactly what the British did to America. It was made crystal clear at trial that I never, ever plotted to “kill Americans” at shopping malls or whatever the story was. The government’s own witnesses contradicted this claim, and we put expert after expert up on that stand, who spent hours dissecting my every written word, who explained my beliefs. Further, when I was free, the government sent an undercover agent to prod me into one of their little “terror plots,” but I refused to participate. Mysteriously, however, the jury never heard this.

So, this trial was not about my position on Muslims killing American civilians. It was about my position on Americans killing Muslim civilians, which is that Muslims should defend their lands from foreign invaders – Soviets, Americans, or Martians. This is what I believe. It’s what I’ve always believed, and what I will always believe. This is not terrorism, and it’s not extremism. It’s what the arrows on that seal above your head represent: defense of the homeland. So, I disagree with my lawyers when they say that you don’t have to agree with my beliefs – no. Anyone with commonsense and humanity has no choice but to agree with me. If someone breaks into your home to rob you and harm your family, logic dictates that you do whatever it takes to expel that invader from your home.

But when that home is a Muslim land, and that invader is the US military, for some reason the standards suddenly change. Common sense is renamed ”terrorism” and the people defending themselves against those who come to kill them from across the ocean become “the terrorists” who are ”killing Americans.” The mentality that America was victimized with when British soldiers walked these streets 2 ½ centuries ago is the same mentality Muslims are victimized by as American soldiers walk their streets today. It’s the mentality of colonialism.

When Sgt. Bales shot those Afghans to death last month, all of the focus in the media was on him-his life, his stress, his PTSD, the mortgage on his home-as if he was the victim. Very little sympathy was expressed for the people he actually killed, as if they’re not real, they’re not humans. Unfortunately, this mentality trickles down to everyone in society, whether or not they realize it. Even with my lawyers, it took nearly two years of discussing, explaining, and clarifying before they were finally able to think outside the box and at least ostensibly accept the logic in what I was saying. Two years! If it took that long for people so intelligent, whose job it is to defend me, to de-program themselves, then to throw me in front of a randomly selected jury under the premise that they’re my “impartial peers,” I mean, come on. I wasn’t tried before a jury of my peers because with the mentality gripping America today, I have no peers. Counting on this fact, the government prosecuted me – not because they needed to, but simply because they could.

I learned one more thing in history class: America has historically supported the most unjust policies against its minorities – practices that were even protected by the law – only to look back later and ask: ’what were we thinking?’ Slavery, Jim Crow, the internment of the Japanese during World War II – each was widely accepted by American society, each was defended by the Supreme Court. But as time passed and America changed, both people and courts looked back and asked ’What were we thinking?’ Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the South African government, and given a life sentence. But time passed, the world changed, they realized how oppressive their policies were, that it was not he who was the terrorist, and they released him from prison. He even became president. So, everything is subjective - even this whole business of “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist.” It all depends on the time and place and who the superpower happens to be at the moment.

In your eyes, I’m a terrorist, and it’s perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit. But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the US military in foreign countries, yet somehow I’m the one going to prison for “conspiring to kill and maim” in those countries – because I support the Mujahidin defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a ”terrorist,” yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-raped by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the “terrorists” are, she sure wouldn’t be pointing at me.

The government says that I was obsessed with violence, obsessed with ”killing Americans.” But, as a Muslim living in these times, I can think of a lie no more ironic.

-Tarek Mehanna
4/12/12

Justice and Truth,

Haseeb.

Book Review: Cuba: A new history by Richard Gott

Hi everyone

This is the first of many book reviews we shall be doing on the site. Hope you enjoy it!

Before we go into the book we need talk a little about the author himself, Richard Gott. Gott studied history in Oxford University and worked at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, currently known as Chatham House. The latter is therefore extremely impressionable of Gott’s early work, as it is understood than he had a passion for studying history coupled with the analysis and understanding of affairs abroad. Which ties in with his studies at the University of Chile in the 1960s, where he wrote his book Guerrilla movements in Latin America. He was also notably active against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. He had also met revolutionary icon Che Guevara and played a role in confirming his identity after he was captured and executed in Bolivia. Since then Gott has been literary editor of The Guardian and many more books on the modern Latin American history and its resulting revolutions. He is currently an honorary research fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London.

Cuba: A new history is first and foremost an historical account of the political/military, economic and social affairs that lead up to the revolutions that began in the 1950s led by the likes of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. It does not only highlight moments of traditional significance such as the assault on the Moncada Barracks which ultimately toppled long-term Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista and his regime; but supposes nearly all events in Cuba’s relatively short history (since the 16^th century) are in their own respect significant. Therefore each historical account is handled with carefully and delivered with verve and proficiency. The chronological timeline for the book is dated from the 16^th to 21^st century, however the updated edition is exactly from 1511-2008. Therefore everything from the early days of slavery, piracy and settlement by Spanish imperial powers, to the Spanish empire being challenged, to racial segregation and social stratification, wars of independence, history on the first known revolutionaries revered as apostles such as José Martí, to the fall of the Spanish empire, US intervention, the Platt Amendment, planning of the Granma landing, The Granma landing and subsequent armed uprisings, the Cold War’s effect on Cuban policies and relations, and even briefly Post-Fidel Castro rule are all covered and more. These key moments in history and events that led up and followed are engaged with in such deep discussion and detail that it becomes obsessive. Indeed when looking at Gott’s citations and side-notes alone, the word obsessive accurately describes the author’s attention to detail, each chapter has at least over 60 references with most having over 80 citations. Gott also gives a guide to further reading and an introduction and overall personal account on his many visits to Cuba.

In closing this book is a must-read for all that have an interest in studying human history and specifically Latin American history and its role and influence on the world. Cuba is shown as a country that has gone through turmoil to triumph, and is even -as of writing this- still fighting for a better future for its own people and others. Gott’s writing is clearly indicative of his love, passion, empathy and understanding for Cuba and its culture, history and current affairs. It has the knowledge and deliverance on par with most academic literature; yet at the same time is as compelling as a novel.

*

I am currently reading Ilan Pappe’s A History of Modern Palestine and shall provide a review for that in the near future as well.

Respect and Peace,

Haseeb.

Questioning the ‘Kony 2012′ Campaign

Hello everyone,

 

Boy it’s been a while hasn’t it? Well we’re here now. Getting straight to the point a lot of you by now must have seen the KONY 2012 viral video and if you haven’t we’ll embed it here for you. My immediate reactions were of sadness, initially because of the suffering of the Ugandan children, but after that of the hidden agendas the makers seemed to have in the video. The noticeable support for western military might was the first shocker, and after all the talk of children being abused and anti-war sentiments, I hardly thought the maker of the documentary would see more combat as the right direction seeing as his intention seemed good. You see by making people sympathise and feel obliged to do something or by making them feel a part of something they are garnering not just your support but your consent. That consent is to be used for ultimately the imperialist ventures of Africa, as if they needed to have a bigger military presence there. Libya, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Ethiopia and now Uganda are just a few nations in Africa that have/had/do suffer(ed) at the hands of western colonialism in the form of ‘intervention’ or giving aid. The bottom line is no one does anything for nothing; similarly the powers of the west will not play heroes and then leave. No they are buying interest just as history has shown before; to gain not just political influence but natural resources. The same resources that allow you to read this electronic message. The African nations sit on a wealth of resources and are yet unable to use and refine them for their own use. In an age where corporations and individuals have more money than whole nations we cannot accept that military might is the way to help countries and deliver them from poverty. We could have dealt with poverty a long time ago, yet it is still here and it is precisely the reason why the powerful have been able to exploit Africa and other parts of the ‘third’ world.

In closing I would like you watch the film and critically analyse it. Look at the contradictions and notions of nationalism, the maker himself has been seen holding weaponry with the Sudan Liberation army which has been known for committing war crimes, to look at the pictures and for more info check here at this blog:

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

Remember question everything. How does he easily gain access to members of the senate? Why did Obama contact him directly? How did just one man manage to get the military involved when others have campaigned longer for higher causes? How has it gone viral so quickly for a video that is telling ‘truth’? Why aren’t they being suppressed then?

 

 

Claim your freedom!

Haseeb and everyone at RF.

Stop The War On Iran 28/1/2012

From everyone at R.F we apologise for the lateness of this post, but we’ve been really busy with college and uni and also with the Hands Off Somalia movement.

Please check out the new Hands Off Somalia page at the top where you will find all the information you need about the movement. We at R.F have been working with this movement very closely so we would appreciate if you could check it out.

Peace,

Esteban and everyone at R.F

Western Democracy: Is It Worth Killing For?

 

Hello Everyone

I would just like to say it’s been a busy month with it being exam season and such. But I would also like you all to know we are indeed still here and plan to update the site ASAP. We will also be doing a filmed group discussion on the above lecture and highlighting what exactly was being discussed in a understandable manner. Until then stay good!

Respect and Peace,

Haseeb.

Palestine Demo

Justice at last for Stephen Lawrence

Yes, the day has finally come, 2 of the 5 gang members who were present on the night he was murdered have been charged with his murder. Obviously this is a landmark day in British Justice, but I agree with the comments that Stephen’s mother made afterwards. if the police had handled the original case properly she would not have had to wait for nearly 19 years to find out who killed her son. Now I can’t relate to the grieving that Mrs Lawrence has had to deal with in the last 18 years, but i think we can all wish peace upon her now and hope that she has found comfort in these sentences being handed to her son’s killers. She said that it wasn’t a cause for celebration because it won’t bring her son back, but we must hope that she can be allowed to move on, she has never sought revenge for her son’s killers, but simply justice.

I for one am glad that the killers have been brought to justice, however I expressed some anger at how long it took to get the right verdict, the point is that the right verdict was reached.

Anyway, that is all I have to say on this matter at the current time as not all of the people involved have not yet been brought to justice, so when or indeed if this happens I will of course comment, until then hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays if you are still on them, hope you had a good Christmas and new year and we will continue to post throughout the year.

Peace and Love

Gabriel and everyone at R.F.

Interview with Lowkey

Hey everybody, on tuesday we attended a Palestine demo infront of  London’s Israeli embassy and managed to grab a quick interview with a very special artist who’s music is not only inspiring but educational, Lowkey. Enjoy and we will have a wrap up on the even very soon.

Respect and Peace ,

Esteban and everyone at R.F.

Quick Update

Hi Everyone

 

Just wanted to post a quick update here. Its definitely been a while I know. I’d like to apologise for that. The true reasoning is simply we have had a lot on our plates right now with our studies and the exam season being around the corner. I personally also have a presentation and coursework due in this week so I have been focusing on that. HOWEVER, we shall be back this week and from tomorrow we will be updating our video of the week and pic of the day regularly again. Once more sorry for any perceived slacking on our part .

Respect and Peace,

Haseeb and Everyone in RF.

Attack on Rhea Page

I know it’s been a while since I have written a post on this blog, but I am here to do another one about the topic of the title. As you may have seen my brothers from the blog, Haseeb and Esteban went to an anti-imperialism seminar, which I wish I could have gone to, but I just couldn’t, really good to read the articles on that so thanks for that guys. Now onto the topic of this post. Now we are all obviously about peace, freedom, love, equality and justice for all, we try to present topics we discuss in an unbiased, objective and fair way. With this mind I will move to the topic.

A woman named Rhea Page from Leicester was walking home with her boyfriend when she was attacked by a girl gang of which there were four members. This attack was a very fierce one and one which appears to have been done out of hate, whether it is race hate or not, I am not sure, but whatever it was it was a very violent act to commit towards a fellow human being. I cannot say conclusively that it was racially motivated as the CCTV clip which I viewed had no audio, I will post the video footage in a link later. It may very well have been a racially motivated attack, however as I wasn’t present I cannot say. It has emerged that the girls were drinking on the night in question and this was what their defence was based on, the fact that they weren’t used to drinking as they were Muslim. It just so happened that the gang in question were Muslim, however this could have been anyone, this is where I need you to really read, I DO NOT, REPEAT DO NOT condone this attack, they appear to have been cowardly attacks with no other motive than to hurt a fellow human being. If the attack was racially charged then this makes the gang no better than the woman who was featured in the tram experience video, as I have said before, people should not treat each other differently because of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender etc. We are all a part of the HUMAN RACE, when will people realise that we should come together not stay divided. These two incidents while not directly related may be an example of people being misled by something or feeling very small within society. I don’t condone the attack and also think that they should be educated rather than punished, we need to educate people on things like this so that people can see how damaging it can be.

Now, I have read various different papers websites and seen some comments sections on these websites, many people have now jumped on the anti-immigration bandwagon again, which is just insane. Now I know I may sound like a broken record here, but I DO NOT condone this attack, however the way that certain media outlets are reporting the story could incite further tension, I refuse to say racial tension because race is a term which was made to serve racists. I have already seen people’s comments referring to the Muslim girl gang as ‘them’, this term, while being highly offensive as well as helping to incite more tension, generalizes and stereotypes a certain group, in this case Muslims. It only takes one idiot to read a comment like that to go out and harm or possibly kill someone, things like that should not be encouraged. The majority of Muslims in the UK are decent, very hard-working people, who simply wish to get on with their lives and be happy. However it gets very hard for them when they are demonized in the press like this, for every girl gang like this there are hundreds of Muslim girls who are not out beating people up, but their story will not be covered. The Girl gang should be ashamed of themselves, people are right to be outraged when an incident like this happens, however it doesn’t justify the demonization of a certain people in the media, that is wrong, because to do this is to assume that all Muslim people are like the girl gang when we should all know that this is simply not the case. The media could have just written ‘girl gang attacks woman’, instead the headlines are ‘Muslim girl gang attacks woman’. When there are black and white girl gangs that attack others, there is nothing in the headlines which say what religion the gangs are. Muslims are used as scapegoats far too often by the media these days, it is now seen as acceptable to bash Muslims in mainstream media, why is it allowed, if people get angry when there is prejudice against Black people and White people, why is it okay to be biased against Muslims.

My point is this, the girl gang were in the wrong, they should not have attacked this woman for no apparent reason, I hope the woman recovers from her injuries physically as well as mentally, but let us not demonize all Muslims when deep down we know the truth that it is a tiny minority who are presented to the world, when the majority want to live in peace with their families and friends. I have Muslim friends who would condemn this attack; they would probably not like to be represented by these people. What we need now though is calm, no one needs to seek vigilante justice and no one needs to go crazy and hurt anyone, what we need is peace, love and unity. Humans should band together not find ways to set each other apart, we should fight for justice, freedom, peace and equality for all. LET US UNITE, TOGETHER WE WILL RISE. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, if you want to get involved leave us a comment, we appreciate them, thanks.

Peace and love,

Gabriel