Articles 2024

Syria close to ruin 

And a Woke Al-Qaida

Azar Majedi

17 december 2024

Syria close to ruin 

And a Woke Al-Qaida

Azar Majedi

On December 8, Bashar al-Assad fell. He was not toppled by a revolutionary movement and people's uprising. His fall was not even the result of a regime change imposed on a revolution or a popular uprising, like the Islamic regime in Iran in 1979.  It was the outcome of the attack by a rebranded Al-Qaida, along with Turkey, Israel and complete support of US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This regime change was the final chapter of the half-failed attempts by US government led by Barak Obama. Al-Qaida, which was on the US terrorist list, was given plastic surgery and led to power in Damascus. The central bank was looted on the first day. Turkey is practically in power* and has occupied a large part of northern Syria. Israel has dropped hundreds of bombs on Syria. It has destroyed the country's military bases, infrastructure and advanced very close to Damascus and occupied an area larger than Gaza in Syria. The Western media has called Israel's attack on Syria an “attack by neighbours.”

Aren't you happy that Al-Assad fell?

This question is thrown around. The problem is that posing the question in this way in the context of the events in Syria is wrong. This question is misleading. Every person with a conscience, humanity, and compassion would be happy and delighted with the fall of Al-Assad or any dictator in the world. Every person who seeks justice and freedom would be delighted with the release of prisoners held captive in the depths of the dungeon. But this question is misleading in the context of the events in Syria; because it tries to divert attention from the main issue. These are the urgent and fundamental questions: Under what circumstances did Assad fall, who took his place, and what fate awaits the people?

Assad's fall is the result of a brutal regime change that was initiated 13 years ago by the Obama administration. Nearly a million deaths, millions displaced, and a more impoverished and oppressed society is the result of this American war. The force that replaced the Assad government is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, which has recently undergone a facelift in the CIA; it has been whitewashed by “modernism” and “tolerance”. 

The whole situation is a farce. The former al-Qaeda leader has hoisted the flag of Islam over an ex-secular state and is promoting “diversity” (LGBQT rights)! He has a new stylist now; his Islamic terrorist uniform has been exchanged by a partisan looking shirt, in the style of Zelensky. His beard is trimmed and neat, and his hair has been trimmed and combed gently. The BBC describes him as follows: "From Syrian jihadist leader to rebel politician." Even his tone of voice has become calm and fatherly. 

The future that awaits the Syrian people will be much darker and bloodier. Syria's economic resources, oil and wheat, are currently being plundered by the United States. Turkey and Israel have occupied a significant part of it and continue to advance. Israel has bombed all the country's infrastructure and military bases. The calamity that befell Iraq is awaiting Syria, religious and ethnic conflicts and hostilities between Shia, Sunni and Christian, and widespread hunger and displacement. Nearly half a million Lebanese have sought refuge in Syria. These unfortunate people, along with millions of Syrians who have survived and have not been caught in the Libyan slave market, will be scattered in the desert, sea, and ocean. They have nowhere to go like millions and millions of people from the Middle East to Africa, thanks to American dominance.

Syria will be no more!

What we have historically known as Syria since the end of World War I and the French occupation of Syria will cease to exist. Syria will turn to a ruin like the rest of the region, from Afghanistan to Iraq, to Libya, Palestine and Lebanon. This is the gift of US and NATO to the people of the Middle East; a devastated and fragmented land, without the traces of civilization, living under war, backwardness, oppression and bombs. Syria is another step in the “Greater Israel” project in the context of the “new Middle East”. Israel won this chapter too. And it is unfortunate that a people who yearn for freedom and equality, for progress and a humane state, should applaud this victory.

Why? Because America and the West are presenting an inverted narrative to the world. With the powerful ideological apparatus they have at their disposal, they brainwash people. They make lies look like truth and truth look like lies. They have been able to use people’s rightful joy and immediate reaction to justify the killing and destruction they have imposed on Syria. Apparently, people should be grateful to Turkey and Israel for destroying and occupying the country and making Islamic terrorists rule their country. If they will remain displaced and hungry, if they will live in fear of war and death, this is only the price they have to pay for being freed of the dictator, thanks to benevolence of Turkey, Israel and America. 

The fate of the Middle East looks dark and bloody**. Millions have been killed and millions more have been displaced. Israel is destroying every sign of civilization in the region with American and Western bombs. Now the war has reached Syria. Israel continues to occupy the country without paying attention to any warnings from the United Nations. During this war, more than anything else, the absurdity and hollowness of all international political and diplomatic institutions has been revealed.

These are the final chapters of the new order that America announced in 1991 after the end of the Cold War. The clash of civilizations, i.e., between the West and Islam was set as the ideological and political basis of this clash. And Islam quickly dressed up as Islamic terrorism. The complete destruction and devastation of the Middle East and part of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) is a major and important part of this new order. Now we are reaching the final chapters of this era. Narratives and characters must change. Islamic terrorism is losing its relevance. "Western civilization" is completely victorious over "barbarism" as Netanyahu declared in the US Congress in Washington in July.

Modernised and pasteurised Islam!

Since Israel and the US practically defeated what was identified as Islamic terrorism in the war, the Islamic movement or Islam as an ideology must be transformed or re-branded. They have already re-styled and re-branded Al-Qaeda: new uniform, makeup, haircut, and body language, tone of voice and so on. Al-Qaeda and the former deputy of ISIS have become “modern, polite, tolerant and civilised”; they defend the rights of homosexuals and "diversity" in society. They would be offended if you called them terrorists. "Rebel" is a more appropriate adjective.

This is the new narrative being propagated by the mainstream media and the Western statesmen. Islam has gone Woke. The pro-LGBQT terrorists have entered the scene two weeks after the Islamic Renaissance in Saudi Arabia. Act one was Jennifer Lopez dancing half-naked in front of the Kaaba, (the highest and most sacred symbol of Islam) act two is Al-Qaeda and ISIS supporting the LGBQT movement. The West is clearly declaring and admitting that the face and decor of the Islamic movement must change and is changing rapidly. The bitter irony is that neither that narrative of gut-wrenching Islamic terrorism nor this narrative of tolerance; support for female nudity and homosexuality is real, organic, or born in the environment and region they rule. These are narratives fabricated by American imperialism. They have spent billions of dollars to produce and nurture this beast.

Where will this war end? This is the question that weighs on the minds. Is Syria the last? Will the war in Lebanon continue? Will Yemen be the next target? Will Iran be attacked? These are the questions that have occupied the minds of the world. Israel has achieved a significant part of its stated goals in the last 14 months**. Gaza has been almost completely cleansed and is completely uninhabitable. Large parts of the West Bank have been cleared and the clearing operation is proceeding steadily. A large part of Lebanon on the Israeli border and a large part of Beirut have been completely destroyed and several million people have been displaced. This war continues.

Yemen and Iran are also under serious threat. As evidence shows, the issue of attacking Iran is very serious. The reason for the silence and lack of reaction by the Islamic regime in Lebanon and Syria is precisely the fear of war, which is hanging over its heads. It has negotiated with Turkey and Russia in Doha about Syria. Apparently, they have reached a standstill for now. But it is not believed that this state will last long. The course of this devastating war in the last 14 months indicates that the war will spread.

On the one hand, the situation is dark and bloody, and on the other hand, a widespread and unprecedented awakening movement has been born. A million-strong movement seeking justice is sick and tired of lies, hypocrisy, censorship and state oppression. Now, more than ever in history, people of the world are pointing fingers of accusation at America, as a criminal superpower. The terrorist nature of America, Israel and NATO has been revealed. The effort to push back this destructive power has become more widespread. The forces of freedom and equality, the left, communists and socialists, people with conscience and justice-seeking must act more united and cohesively to establish justice and freedom and to push back this killing and destructive force.

The left, communist, socialist and freedom-seeking movements in Iran must prepare itself with full vigilance for future dangers. More coherent organization and strong unity to confront the Islamic Republic and any possible threats to the safety of the society must be our main goal.

*At the Doha conference, the Turkish Foreign Minister spoke officially as the spokesman for the new power in Syria. At the same conference, he announced negotiations with the Islamic regime and Russia.

**Netanyahu in a televised message on the 17^th of December clearly explained Israel’s goal. He said “A year ago, I said something simple: We would change the face of the Middle East, and we are indeed doing so. Syria is not the same Syria. Lebanon is not the same Lebanon. Gaza is not the same Gaza. And the head f the axis, Iran, is not the same Iran; ...” 

The collapse of democracy in the West

The media is manufacturing lies!

In recent years, especially over the past year, the level of lies and censorship in the mainstream media has been astonishing and unbelievable. The media in the West, with the exception of a few government agencies, is owned by billionaires and large corporations. The narrative that is being fed to society is the narrative that the ruling class has agreed to. During more than a year of Israeli genocide and extermination of the Palestinians, news about Israeli crimes has been completely censored concealed ; Israel has been portrayed as the victim and Hamas as the criminal and terrorist; all Israeli crimes have been whitewashed and justified under the guise of “the right to self-defence” and combating “anti-Semitism.” Anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, anti-refugee and immigrant propaganda (targeting mainly immigrants from the Middle East and Africa) has become widespread. The level of lies and propaganda that these media feed the public is unbelievable. Fascism is rising faster than anyone can imagine.

CNN and War Propaganda

More than a month ago, i.e. on the anniversary of the genocide in Gaza, CNN published an article that sparked much criticism, disgust and protest. ‘He got out of Gaza, but Gaza did not get out of him’: Israeli soldiers returning from war struggle with trauma and suicide” is the headline of the article.

 A week after the anniversary of a historic genocide in Palestine at the hands of Israel, and with the full and comprehensive cooperation and support of the United States and the West, CNN is for the first time mentioning the war crimes and butcheries of Israel; but not from the perspective of the victim, not from the perspective of the Palestinian woman, man and child, not from the perspective of war crimes, butchery and genocide, but from the perspective of the negative effects of this genocide and butchery on Israeli soldiers! 

Even when Israeli soldiers bulldoze over the dead and half-dead bodies of Palestinian children and elderly people to bury their own crimes, it is still the Israelis who are the "victims". Compassion and sympathy must be shown to the Israeli soldiers. The goal of this reportage is to change the image of the Israeli army in the world; The West tried so hard to spread the image of “the moral army”of IDF; all that fake image has vaporised through the rubbles in Gaza; A re-imaging has become necessary. The “always Israel, the victim” narrative is re-branded in this notorious article. 

They have no shame. Insolence knows no boundaries. This imperialist entitlement, covered under the veil of race and religion, is not a new phenomenon; it is just that its dimensions and depth have expanded. The only way the American people have been informed of the crimes of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria over the past 23 years has been through the trauma and PDST of American soldiers in the war. (Hollywood movies are the pinnacle of this approach.) Compassion for the American soldier who has been forced to commit so many crimes! This inverted narrative of war and killing and butchery and genocide is not new, but the dimensions of Israel's crimes and genocide in the past year have exposed this chronic problem in an acute issue.

Trauma and PTSD are serious mental disorders. Most soldiers returning from war suffer from this condition. Many commit suicide; become addicts. This phenomenon itself reflects the crimes of oppressive and bullying governments. But what CNN is doing here is trying to distort the truth: Israeli soldiers have committed war crimes; but it is Hamas that is to blame for forcing Israel to commit genocide, this is the narrative that has been pushed down people’s throats.

No further explanation is needed. The text itself is clearer than any exposé. The story is about: 

“A 40-year-old father of four, Eliran Mizrahi deployed to Gaza after the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Where does the inverted comma finish?

The Israeli military reservist returned a different person, traumatised by what he had witnessed in the war against Hamas in the strip, his family told CNN. Six months after he was first sent to fight, he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) back at home. Before he was due to redeploy, he took his own life.

Israeli soldiers who fought in the enclave told CNN they witnessed horrors the outside world can never truly comprehend. Their accounts offer a rare glimpse into the brutality of what critics have called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “forever war” and the intangible toll it takes on the soldiers who participate.

For many soldiers, the war in Gaza is a fight for Israel’s survival and must be won by any means. But the battle is also taking a mental toll that, due to stigma, is largely hidden from view. Interviews with Israeli soldiers, a medic, and the family of Mizrahi, the reservist who took his own life, provide a window into the psychological burden that the war is casting on Israeli society.

Guy Zaken, Mizrahi’s friend and co-driver of the bulldozer, provided further insight into their experience in Gaza. “We saw very, very, very difficult things,” Zaken told CNN. “Things that are difficult to accept.”

The former soldier has spoken publicly about the psychological trauma endured by Israeli troops in Gaza. In a testimony to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in June, Zaken said that on many occasions, soldiers had to “run over terrorists, dead and alive, in the hundreds.” “Everything squirts out,” he added.

Zaken says he can no longer eat meat, as it reminds him of the gruesome scenes he witnessed from his bulldozer in Gaza, and struggles to sleep at night, the sound of explosions ringing in his head.

“When you see a lot of meat outside, and blood… both ours and theirs (Hamas), then it really affects you when you eat,” he told CNN, referring to bodies as “meat.” He maintains that the vast majority of those he encountered were “terrorists.”

“The civilians we saw, we stopped and brought them water to drink, and we let them eat from our food,” he recalled, adding that even in such situations, Hamas fighters would shoot at them.

“So, there is no such thing as citizens,” he said, referring to the ability of Hamas fighters to blend with civilians. “This is terrorism.” 

(Note! It is Hamas's fault that the Israeli army is committing these unimaginable crimes. Hamas must be condemned for these Israeli crimes and the psychological distress of the Israeli soldiers!)*

Democracy, even at its best, is not freedom, but an illusion of freedom. However, in recent years, the deepening crisis, the growth of poverty and war, the suppression of civil rights, freedom of speech and protest, have torn the veil off the edifice of Western democracy. The mainstream media are completely censored and officially deliver lies and propaganda to the people. Censorship on social media has also become more severe.

What is being broadcast on television screens and radio loudspeakers is a big lie. It presents the facts in reverse and upside down. False narratives to disturb society, create fear and anxiety, and as a result, hatred and hostility. These reek of fascism. As we see, ultra-right and fascist parties have become very strong; extreme right parties are in power in many European countries. Fascism is rapidly rising. The events in Amsterdam and the way it was portrayed by the European and Dutch officials and the media (in and around a football match between an Israeli club and a Dutch one) confirm this concern. Maintaining vigilance and organising to push back this destructive tide must be the order of all leftist, socialist, progressive, and freedom-loving forces.

* https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/21/middleeast/gaza-war-israeli-soldiers-ptsd-suicide-intl/index.html

Jenifer Lopez the ticket to modernism 

A new Saudi Arabia in a new Middle East 

Azar Majdi

3 December 2024

On the 13^th of November, Saudi Arabia celebrated its new position as a big power play in the region along with announcing its new image: A modernised Islamic state.

A fashion show and concert took place in Riyadh. A few famous singers came to the stage. It was announced that the show was the birthday celebration of a Fashion company owned by a Lebanese designer. Western media tried to downplay this historic moment as ordinary events under Ben Salman. They all admired him as a progressive who is modernising the strict Islam in Saudi Arabia. However, what shock the world was the way the concert unfolded; films and pictures of half naked Jennifer Lopez on the stage in front of the image of Kaaba, the holiest and most sacred place according to Islam, went viral.

This scene astonished everyone; some happy over the defeat and humiliation of Islam, some angry for the same reason. This concert is supposed to break boundaries or "taboos"; heralding a new era. Is this the symbol of reconciliation between Western civilization and Islam? Is it the birth of a new Saudi Arabia? Perhaps the new Middle East, the Middle East that Netanyahu promised in the UN? All these questions come to mind.

This event is significant because it voices an important message and declares a new era. In the international political situation and especially in the region, this event is very meaningful. One must ask why this event has become necessary under the current circumstances; in the catastrophic situation in the Middle East. 13 months of genocide and extermination of Palestinians, among bombs, death and destruction? Why should a famous Lebanese fashion designer, Eli Saab, celebrate his company's birthday in Saudi Arabia as bombs fall on Beirut? How should this be interpreted? A shred of conscience, compassion, humanity or care for fellow country-men/women, or even pretending to one or all of the above, would prevent such a celebration to take place. 

Renaissance according to Saudi Arabia

The concert did not celebrate the anniversary of the Fashion Co., but rather heralded the beginning of the new Middle East. Unbothered with and aloof to the killing and extermination of Palestinians, the bombing and occupation of Lebanon, the bombardment of Syria, they danced and celebrated. This is the political message of the event: standing with Israel and the United States and their plans and the genocide of the Palestinians. 

Another important aspect is cultural and ideological. The dance and singing of a half-naked woman in the arms of several men on the stage, against the digital image of the Kaaba, the highest symbol of Islam, it is the height of blasphemy and heresy. Why such blasphemy has become necessary? To change the image of Saudi Arabia, as the symbol of the most extreme and restrictive Islamic rule. The event promises a renaissance in the Gulf Sheikhdoms.

For several years now, the western media have been praising Ben Salman for his “reforms and modernism”. It doesn't matter if he kills a journalist at his embassy in Turkey and then let him melt in acid; it doesn't matter if he is among the record holders of execution; Islam is going to be reformed in Saudi Arabia. (The same Islam that the West, Britain and the United States planted.) The presence of a half-naked woman in front of the Kaaba is apparently the height of reform and advancement in Islam.

This act coincides with the naked women movement that has grown in the past 10 years in the West, claiming that it defends women’s freedom and rights. Contrasting woman’s naked body to the veil, this movement known as FEMEN* is being portrayed and presented as an anti-Islam movement. In the same period, modernisation of Saudi Arabia has been pushed by aiding Ben Salman against all traditional and formal rules of the country to gain power. The Western media shamelessly praise this criminal. 

Is this the end of the clash of civilisation which officially began in the 1990s, West against Islam? Is this the beginning of the end of the Islamic terrorist movement as we have witnessed in the past decades? America and the West will never sideline Islam. Religion has completely proven its importance and effectiveness in the suppression and exploitation of the people. In the rise of capitalism in Europe, there was a hope that religion could and would be stripped of its power completely. But history has shown for over two centuries that religion can be the most powerful tool for submission and suppression. However, the packaging needs to be changed.

If Israel and USA's plan for complete destruction and occupation of the Middle East goes ahead, the Islamic movement must reshape. It has already become significantly weakened. Islamic terrorism can no longer be the giant that was painted to be. A new version of Islam has to be created. In the absence of a power vacuum by regional states, as they are all destroyed or made obedient, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries present an ideal place for this renaissance as they are so integrated in the international world order, complete obedient to America, and a huge centre of Business and money. 

What captures the mind is how come Saudi Arabia followed the path of nudity (half nudity for the time being) for its reform? Is this a response to the nude movement of the past decade? The dominant feminist narrative in the West has been presenting the female nudity as an antithesis to women’s subjugation; a very superficial line between the veil and the naked body. Naked protests have become commonplace in opposition to Islam.

It’s ironic that Bin Salman, the Western media and ideologues, feminism, and Femen share the same view of women’s freedom and reformed Islam: nudity. There is no doubt that every human being should have the right to dress and to protest as they wish. This is not about freedom of choice. This is about a movement with a certain agenda, message and misconception.

This question, the fetishism of female body for feminists must be discussed and analysed more thoroughly in a different article. However, we refer the readers to an article and an interview about the question of nudity from 10 years ago. (Links below.)

*Femen is originally a Ukrainian organisation which has moved to France in 2013. It was created by a man; it was active in the political movement aimed at regime change in Ukraine. Femen has close ties to the French government, it’s leader has received a national award from President Holland and one of its branch leaders has been awarded by Holland’s prime minister. There have been questions about the source and amount of money it receives, from some of its ex-partners as well. It’s action, both while in Ukraine and now in Europe has been in close cooperation with the Western governments policies, be it in Ukraine or otherwise. In France it’s said that Femen’s provocative protests against Moslems have intensified anti-Moslem sentiments. The reason given for why they have chosen naked protest is that it attracts more attention. 

https://www.azar-majedi.com/english/articles-2011-2023

https://youtu.be/U4K88lw7F9E?si=fDUN4MOJ9Jr97Czf

The outbreak of war in Syria

A step towards the "New Middle East”

Azar Majedi

December 2, 2024

The regime change in Syria was launched in 2011 by Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. But this project did not go as well as they had hoped, like Iraq or Libya. Hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, a semi-destroyed country and an impoverished society due to war, economic sanctions and the occupation of the oil-rich region and the theft of oil by the US are the results of this criminal US project. Throughout this period, Israel has bombed Syria. US-Israel have created terrorist organisations, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, who have been used to traumatise the society, kill people and destroy any civility. Kurdish nationalists are also fighting on America's side.

As Israel is exterminating the Palestinians and expanding its war of annihilation and occupation, the war in Syria has erupted. The terrorist movement, Hay‘at Tahrir al-Sham, which originated from Al-Qaeda and is supported by Turkey and America, has attacked and captured Aleppo. The Turkish government has repeatedly attacked Syria by land and air over the past thirteen years and has occupied parts of it. Apparently, the occupation and cleansing of Syria is also part of the plan. Recently, Israel officially annexed the Golan Heights after years of military occupation. Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have supported this operation.

In past years, with the continuous war of the destruction of the Middle East, America has been promoting the Golf countries as its regional power play; the gendarmes and agents of the United States in the region. From the Middle East to Sudan, we see the footprints of the sheikhdoms in any war and destruction US is leading.

This attack and the rapid victory of the Islamic terrorists came as a surprise. Commentators spoke of the unexpectedness of such an operation. The Islamic Republic has not reacted due to the dangerous situation it is in. Hezbollah is collapsing. There have been several reports of bombings by Russia. Overall, the Syrian government’s defence has been very weak. Both sides boast and spread propaganda; independent reports are also very scant. But it seems that a general agreement has been reached behind the scenes and important compromises have been imposed on the Assad government. The fact that the Emirates is standing by Assad in this war, itself indicates that there are indeed some agreements behind the scenes. 

On the surface, they maintain the face and language of diplomacy and talk about negotiations between the forces involved, but these negotiations do not seem to make a significant change in the current situation. The situation in the region has changed dramatically; the balance of power has completely changed. Israel is rushing towards implementing the plan of Greater Israel, the map Netanyahu showed in the UN general assembly. The attack on Aleppo is also a chapter of this plan.

On Saturday, the statue of Hafez al-Assad was toppled in Aleppo. A moment that has historically been marked by jubilation and joy became a reminder of a wider and never-ending slaughter and destruction. 21 years ago, the statue of Saddam was toppled, but the fall of the criminal dictator did not bring freedom and justice, but a darker, more inhuman and backward society. Just as the fall of Libyan dictator Gaddafi did not make Libya freer or more just. It plunged the society into an abyss of destruction and tyranny, turning it into a slave market.

In 1990 the United States, as the leader of the West, began implementing a plan to completely change the face and structure of the Middle East. The main elements of the project have been the defeat and destruction of every progressive and leftist movement and voice, the complete defeat of Arab nationalism, the creation of Islamic terrorist groups, the expansion of Israel, and exercising complete political power and control through the creation of failed states and torn societies and the establishment of puppet regimes. 

The first attack on Iraq was the beginning; then the imposition of sanctions that led to the killing of several million Iraqi citizens, then the attack on Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and the next phase in what became known as the "Arab Spring" in Syria and Libya and a regime change in Egypt. The final chapter has begun on October 7, 2023 and is still ongoing.

The face of the Middle East has completely changed. A large part of it is in ruins. Civil structures have been destroyed. Every sign of ancient civilization in the region is being wiped out. People are displaced in their homes. Every night they fall into silence in fear of bombs. Life in the Middle East is dark and cruel.

This is the new order that America promised thirty years ago. This is the result of the Clash of Civilizations that America created between the West and its self-made Islamist groups. All the Islamic terrorist groups that have endangered the lives of people in the Middle East and Africa are the creations of America, Israel and the West. For thirty years, America has thrown these terrorist thugs at people, endangering people’s lives and poisoning the society, creating a total chaos; then, it has, under the pretext of eliminating the terrorists, bombed people to Stone Age, and organised regime changes. 

What happened in Aleppo, Syria, is part of this plan, the creation of a Greater Israel and a new Middle East. Apparently, decisions have been made, negotiations have been concluded, and agreements have been reached. The only hope for the two million Palestinians who are displaced by Israeli bombings, tanks and bulldozers, and in famine and thirst, and the hope of all the unfortunate people of Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and the entire region, is the million-strong movement that has risen up in the world for freedom and justice. After 14 months, this movement is still tirelessly defending the rights of the Palestinian people against Israel, America and the West. The suffering people of Palestine have millions of compassionate and humane people by their side. We need to strengthen our solidarity and intensify the struggle for freedom and justice.

The new Hijab law, 

Cry of desperation!

The Islamic regime in Iran has recently passed a law, after long arbitration and procrastination, to re-enforce the veil on the society and to defend and preserve “chastity”. They are promising more force, heavier and more organised attacks on the unveiled, or as the regime says, “bad-veiled”. The aim is to bring the whole society behind this law, forcing taxi companies, bus drivers and other sections of the working people or business behind this clamp down.

This is only cry for help. Islamic regime knows it only too well that women in Iran, the women’s liberation movement in Iran have already overcome this senseless law. We have witnessed the de facto overthrow of the veil in Iran. Women’s li beration movement have surpassed the laws and measures of forceful veil. These are last attempts, like a drowning man who by his survival efforts, expedites his drowning. 

Islamic rule and laws have no place in the society. People know that, Islamic regime knows that. This is a lost battle for the Islamic regime. Women’s liberation movement and all progressive, freedom-loving and justice-seeking people in Iran have sent their message loud and clear: No to Islam, no to oppression. Yes to Freedom and equality. We need to organise and strengthen our movement for freedom, equality and justice against all reactionary forces. 

4 December, 2024

Long live freedom and equality!

Down with the Islamic regime!

Organisation for Women’s Liberation

Is Western Civilisation breaking down?

2024

We’ve been told over and over again about the magnitude of Western civilisation, its glory and greatness in history books, literature, cinema, by Hollywood, by fashion industry, by medical industry. We’ve been made to believe that Western civilisation rose over all other backward civilisations to bring a better world, humanity, moral values, reason, rationality and science.  

We were lied to. It is true that the rise of capitalism in the West gave rise to revolutions and cultural, political rebellions, such as the renaissance, enlightenment and more importantly the hope and vision of a better world, a free, equal and just world. Capitalism in its birth gave birth to its gravedigger, the working class whose true voice of liberation Karl Marx analysed and exposed the flaws of capitalism and the way to replace it. These vibrating and progressive voices and trends have had a great impact on the whole world. 

In fact Western civilisation has embodied two phenomena; if we want to put it simply, these can be described as a positive and a negative force. The negative is an immense force of destruction, brutality and inhumanity over many centuries in the entire world that has created many genocides, slavery, extreme exploitation, hunger and destitute. The positive force is the force that has promoted a better and a more humane world, a freer world. This has been packaged as democracy by the Western ideologues and sold to the world. The West has given itself the medal of champion of democracy; a championship that has long been fading away.

The West after the WWII portrayed itself as the icon of democracy, humanity and freedom, after defeating a genocide-al evil inside its own clan, the fascists, and while getting on with coup d’états around the world (Only US has organised 72 regime changes during the cold war).  UN was created in the image of the West and has been ruled by the west. The West became the refuge of the tiny portion of those who fled torture and executions in the prisons of the coup d’état regimes, and those who were lucky to flee the Western bombs. 

The Emperor is Naked

One didn’t need to look too deeply to see the inherent paradox of western civilisation: What it said about itself and what it did daily. However, all the truth was never out and the western world did enjoy a better life, more civil rights and freedom, less poverty and destitute, thanks to plundering the rest of the world and super-exploitation it imposed and super-profit it pocketed. Things changed more rapidly after the cold war. The Soviet block was the main reason for keeping up the image of a “welfare society”. The end of the cold war unleashed a more fierce brutality and destruction by the US with the cooperation of the West. 

Crimes committed by the West in the past 30 years in the Middle East and Africa alone have cracked the tower of civilisation, particularly after part of its crimes was exposed by Wikileaks. However, nothing tore the whole edifice down as the 10 months long genocide by Israel in Gaza. The complicity of the West in these crimes is so obvious that even the most brainwashed can see.

During these past 10 months there are thousands of moments when one thinks that things cannot get any worse or more surreal. However, there are two moments that completely expose the naked emperor without a shred of doubt. Netanyahu’s speech in the US congress amid standing ovations and applauds of the rulers of the most powerful state in the world; the second, when it was  declared at the Israeli Knesset that raping Palestinian war prisoners was according to the word of Torah and therefore legitimate; so the detainees for crime of rape were set free. And all these happened in front of the world to see. The West has lost any grain of credibility, legitimacy and superiority. 

The End is Near

What will anyone who believed in this fake and falsified narrative, feel when they hear and see that Israel, the bastion of western civilisation in the Middle East, rules that raping a Palestinian in prison is a right and a duty. (We don’t get into how that poor child or youth got in the prison in the first place.) This is the civilisation Netanyahu talked about in the congress amid cheers, proudly declaring that Israel and the West are the beacon of civilisation fighting against barbarism of the Islamic regime and its 4 arms.

 It is ironic that Netanyahu out of everyone should claim to be the flag bearer of civilisation. He pompously aggrandises the Western civilisation vis- à-vis what he calls “axis of Evil” and declares the clash of civilisation against barbarism, amid applauds in Washington. It’s more like a satire. In fact, both sides of this equation are barbaric; rape, torture and execution of prisoners are part and parcel of the ideology and political power of both sides. They both resort to the word of god and their holy book to kill and rape. In fact they’re very similar. There is no surprise when you know that the “axis of Evil” (in Netanyahu’s words) is the illegitimate child of the West.

The fake and false narrative of western civilisation is falling into pieces. How the slaughter of Palestinians opened millions of eyes around the world to the truth; how the flying shrapnel of bombs thrown at the babies and children of Gaza hit the tower of lies of western civilisation; how the imposed famine and thirst on Palestinian children took away any nutrition left in the western civilisation narrative; and how the applauds of the rulers of the biggest power on earth vibrated through the bodies of people with any shred of decency and broke the brainwashing apparatus. Western civilisation has lost all credibility. It’s broken. 

US ruling class not only supports the war financially, militarily, morally, but also applauds all the brutality, cruelty, inhumanity that it commits and promotes. Western civilisation supremacy is in shatters. Force is the only defence. We are at the last chapters of the “Clash of Civilisations.” Expansion of war and destruction seem to be their only response. How far will they go? This partly depends on us, we the people who want a humane, a free and just world. We must rise to oppose this war of extinction. The stronger we become, the brighter the future will look 

Tarnishing well-known Communists

The depth of desperation of the Islamic regime

On the falsification and distortion of Azar Majdi's interview

Azar Majdi

April 10, 2024

Pro Islamic regime’s journal in Iran, “Mashreq” has made a crafty one-minute clip, in which it has put together two different parts of my interview with Mahmoud Ahmadi, Didar TV, aiming at distorting my words and intention for their own ends. The ُTV  interview was with Jalil Behroozi and myself about the conference “Genocide in Gaza, Where Does the Women’s Rights Movement Stand?”

The Islamic regime has tried to insinuate that I accuse the left, workers movement and the women’s liberation movement in Iran of receiving financial aid from Western governments and “democracy” institutions. This is completely false. If one listens to the original interview, these two pieces belong to two different places and the donation piece is related to feminist and secular organisations in the West.

This farce only shows the misery and desperation of the Islamic regime against the left, workers, women's liberation and progressive movements which are fighting against the regime and have gained great momentum. The regime has lost control over the situation to such an extent that it is fabricating documents to both use a well-known revolutionary communist and an atheist to disrepute the left revolutionary movement in Iran and to tarnish the good name of  revolutionary communists.

The regime is mistaken. Its malicious intentions are clear for everybody to see, its desperation obvious and its misery comic.

This is not the first time that the Islamic regime has falsified my words. A few years ago I took part in a BBC Persian TV programme about the concept of "overthrow" and the Islamic regime. In this programme, the Berlin conference and Akbar Ganji were discussed. I announced that Akbar Ganji is a partner in the crimes of the Islamic regime and must be tried for crime against humanity. (he was a leading member of the Islamic regime since inception. In the era of reform talk, he assumed a quasi- opposition figure. He later came abroad.) After broadcasting the programme, BBC faced Akbar Ganji's protest and censored this piece of my talk. Saeed Arman from Partow TV interviewed me about this censorship. The regime broadcast the censored part of my talk and a part of Saeed Arman's interview with me on TV, with a clear intention of ridiculing its right wing opposition.

Another time, a part of my speech at the conference of the Women's Liberation Organization in Sweden about the women's liberation movement, in which I mentioned Masih Alinejad and her role, first as the stooge of the Islamic regime and now as the stooge of the Western powers as a tool of regime change, was broadcast on regime's TV. In these both cases, Islamic regime is trying to use the words of a well-known left activist to expose its right wing opposition.

These three episodes only show that the worker-communist movement is rooted in Iran. Communism is popular. If our words had no listeners; if our words did not touch the hearts; if our faces did not bring hope to people, the Islamic regime would not have thought of falsifying our words. The Islamic regime is by nature shrewd and cunning. However, it is now stuck in a bad predicament and beats its head against the wall. With this distortion, the Islamic regime has shot itself in the foot. Using a communist, (whose enmity with the Islamic regime is well-known) to crush people's protest movement, will be detrimental to the regime.

An Open Letter to the Secularist Entities in the West

Do We Stand on the Side of Justice or Genocide?

History will judge us all!

25 January 2024

There are moments in history that actions and words become epoch making; and let me add to that our silence becomes so poignant that it pierces our hearts and minds. Today is that moment. As all humane, freedom-loving, compassionate and principled people have spoken loud and clear against the genocide in Gaza, and condemned unequivocally Israel and its Western allies, the secularist movement in the West at best has said nothing or at worst only defended Israeli’s lives.

If in the 1930s one could claim they were unaware of the genocide being carried out; there is no such excuse for us now, as for the first time in history we are watching genocide unfold on our screens in real time. There’s no excuse. 

How can one who claims to defend “a freer and fairer society”, and believes that secularism is “a vital principle that upholds freedoms and protects human rights and fosters a fair and open society” watch the murder of small children in real life on screen and say nothing, do nothing. This is the worst form of hypocrisy! So blatant that it has ripped off the veil of civility, fairness, humanity completely. 

How can one who prides oneself on fairness, reason and compassion watch a whole society crumble to rubble; watch hospitals being bombed and babies left behind in incubators; 350 schools and 4 universities bombed to smithereens, and say nothing and do nothing. It is now over 100 days where 30,000 people, 10,000 of whom are children have been shot, bombed and starved yet you still say nothing. This is so self-defeating. You have lost all credibility. 

How can you as a secularist only criticise or attack one religion but not the other, one religious movement and not the other, one religious state and not the other? What happened to the fairness you are promoting? Your allegiances are clear and obvious. 

In the past 2 decades hundreds of pages have been written and hundreds of speeches have been made criticising Islam and shredding it to pieces. Islamic movements and their terrorism have been condemned over and over. The Islamic states the same. That is definitely positive. However, not one criticism of Judaism has been made or of the Jewish state of Israel and their murdering of Palestinians with the words and symbols of the Torah as the guiding motivation. None whatsoever.

How can one explain this discrepancy, this double standard, but to call it what it is? It’s hypocrisy and a fabricated narrative for a clear political and ideological agenda. The genocide in Gaza has exposed all these movements and institutions that were wearing a mask of humanity and progressive values as frauds who were only actors in the US led Western state terrorism which now after more than 2 decades has been responsible for millions of deaths, millions more injured and disabled and millions displaced in the Middle East. Not to forget that all these monstrous Islamic movements which are tearing the region apart are creations of the US and the West; from the Islamic regime in Iran to Mujaheddin, Taliban, Al Qaida, Hamas, and Daesh. 

One needs just to move back and look at the bigger picture to see how this narrative works and how it’s been part and parcel of the 21^st century destruction of the Middle East. The point of consistency that we as Secularists should all abide by is that we cannot be all guns blazing and rightfully condemn one side whilst remaining completely silent in the face of the other. The face of Genocide staring us in the eyes every single day.

Azar Majedi- Chair of Organisation for Women’s Liberation

Homa Arjomand- Coordinator of the International Campaign for One Secular School System & Coordinator of the International Campaign Against Sharia Court in Canada

Masks are torn!

Ex-Muslims from Frying Pan to Fire!

Azar Majedi, Homa Arjomand

July 2024

Maryam Namazie, Council of Ex- Muslims of Britain, (CEMB) has written a propaganda piece entitled “Azar Majedi and Homa Arjomand’s Islamist Propaganda and Morality”! The title sounds more like a right wing leaflet (from Reform Party) than a political debate, a rational critique, as one would expect from a secular, atheist organisation who claims to have left Islam on the basis of reason, rationality and science. The bigger the lie, the easier to swallow! We all know this infamous saying; a good piece of advice for the ruling class and its servants. 

Let’s dwell a bit on Maryam’s claims, better characterised as accusations. “Azar Majedi and Homa Arjomand’s recent criticisms of feminists, secularists and ex-Muslims under the guise of defending the Palestinian people are worrying given their use of Islamist and pro-Islamist Left propaganda.”

Before getting into the content (I use that term loosely), let’s dissect the language and the tone: “Under the guise of defending the Palestinian people,” This sounds very conspiratorial. It’s been suggested that all our efforts, be it minimal and a drop in the ocean, are a conspiratorial plot to promote Islamism. This is what Maryam Namazie has the audacity of articulating.

They are unable to comprehend that there are still some human beings who act according to their conscience; who still have a human cause; who still act from compassion; who have still not sold their soul.

Maryam has simply gone too far. This is completely outside the “accepted” norms and rules of political debate. This is only a piece of propaganda. We must warn her that this has already caused a great deal of backlash and will be even more damaging to her organisation, public standing and claims.

Why has Maryam Namazie lost all sense of proportion, reasoning and logic? Why has she stooped so low? The only plausible answer is that she must have felt an existential threat. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 8 months into a genocide which has been watched in real time by millions around the world on their mobile phones, Ex-Muslim had not even whispered a word against this genocide, never mind condemning it, while intensifying their usual anti-Islamic shows and events. This is a thin rope they’re walking on. People are not idiots, particularly at the time of great awakening that we are experiencing in the world. This propaganda piece is the result of a desperate act to save not only their face, but their existence. 

Azar and Homa have been accused of having turned into Islamist mouth-piece apparently for using “Islamist propaganda” in their critic of Western secular entities and feminists for their total silence with regard to Gaza genocide, Israeli mass murders, bloodshed and apartheid Jewish state. 

In an Open Letter, we have criticised the hypocrisy and double standards of secular institutions in the West. We have exposed that their secularism and criticism of religion is focused on Islam. Not a word against Judaism; a religion just as backward, reactionary, misogynist, anti-liberation and full of superstition. (We will definitely be met by “anti-Semite” name-calling tantrums.) We have criticised their double standard for condemning only one kind of religious state; they only condemn the Islamic state, but not a word about the Jewish state of Israel, that Netanyahu expresses with so much pride, “the only Jewish State.” Even when the army of this Jewish state murders and maims Palestinian children with the words of Torah, we hear nothing! (This is not “anti-Semitism,” as Maryam has accused us of being. These have been shown and expressed in Israeli TV channels and filmed by Israeli soldiers and been proudly posted on social media.)

We stated that these secular entities call themselves humanitarian, progressive and freedom-loving, promoting a free and humane society, but in the face of a historic genocide and ethnic cleansing, they have remained completely silent; some have even gone as far as condemning only Hamas and expressing sympathy for the Israelis. We called out secularists and feminists for their hypocrisy and lies; we exposed their empty and hollow words in defence of humanity and justice. Double standard is not acceptable. Crime, oppression and injustice must be condemned in any form and shape; it is not optional. For these solid reasons, we stated that these movements and organisations lack any political, social and moral principles.

We leave it to the fairness of our readers’ minds to judge whether this statement is Islamist, pro-Islamist movement and regime. But such accusation, to state the truth, has brought both laughter, as it sounds so comical; and grief to us, as it is always sad to see people fall, especially so low. (Our Open Letter to the Secular Entities of the West is published in this issue.)

Moreover, Homa Arjomand has criticised Ex-Muslim for organising a secularist conference in December 2023, two months into the genocide in Gaza carried out by a Jewish state, with total silence over the genocide in Gaza. No mention of Judaism or the Jewish state, only Islam, Islamic movement and regime were on the agenda. Not even a word of compassion or a minute of silence for Palestinians in this international secularist conference. Maryam pretends not to have understood the point of criticism. 

We have also exposed the hypocrisy of Richard Dawkins, who has been risen to the image of God of the godless, who is openly promoting Christian culture and expresses gratitude for Christian missionaries who fight Muslim missionaries in Africa. Is it unfair to say he’s promoting a modern crusade? It should be mentioned that Dawkins is one of the main funder and moral supporter of Ex-Muslims.

You can't save your conscience from the shame and your ruined reputation by throwing accusations. After eight months of twenty-four-hour genocide in Gaza; After the killing of about fifty thousand people, more than fifteen thousand of whom are children; After maiming and orphaning thousands of children; After completely destroying Gaza, hospitals, universities, schools and any urban infrastructure; After famine and water cut off nearly two million people; After all international "human rights" organisations condemned Israel's genocide; After millions of people around the world took to the streets for eight months; After an international movement for justice and freedom for the people of Gaza and the Palestinians and the condemnation of Israel and its Western allies led by the United States, has come to the fore, you finally mentioned the word genocide and condemned it; but within the context of the Western/Israeli narrative. Supposedly this is “a religious –ethnic war” fought between Israel and Hamas.” (The Central Council of Ex-Muslim has refused to use the word genocide. Their position is similar to the position of Netanyahu or Anthony Blinken's office.)

CEMB has been silent for eight months and now that a significant part of the ruling class in the West and a part of Netanyahu's own cabinet have started criticising him, putting up a show of “moderation”, getting ready for throwing Netanyahu under the bus when the time comes, it has entered the scene with the narrative of these opportunistic critics of the genocide. The false narrative of Hamas and Israel are involved in this war and it is apparently "an ethnic-religious war"! This analysis is completely irrelevant to history, truth on the ground, and humanity. It is in fact Ex-Muslims who have hidden themselves under the monster of political Islam and are spreading the narrative of Israel and America about this genocide for the benefit of Israel. 

Moreover, if you claim that this is an ethno-religious war, do you agree that Israel is a religious regime that has been imposing ethnic and religious apartheid on the Palestinian people? Or does the ethnic and religious aspect only apply to the Palestinians that you have so generously handed over to Hamas? You must certainly be aware that in America and Canada in recent months several real estate meetings have been organised at the Israeli Embassy or Jewish Synagogues for the sale of seized land in the West Bank? The meeting is only open to white western Jews. One such meeting was held just some days ago in a synagogue in Los Angeles, where a large demonstration was organised in front of it, which was met with brutal violence by the police and pro-Israeli thugs. (This is not “anti-Semitism!” The news is accessible for those who have not buried their heads in the sand.)

We criticised Ex-Muslim for its position not only with regard to Israeli genocide, but also about their raison d’être. Ex-Muslim has been created to serve as a weapon against Islam and what is classified as “Islamism” in the hands of Western state terrorism and Israel; a piece of puzzle of the “Clash of Civilisations”. This is why they were created and this has been their project from their inception.

Fuel for Extreme-Right

At present, Ex-Muslim is playing in the hands of right wing and fascist movement, in the latter’s anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, and anti-Muslim propaganda. It is adding fuel to their hatemongering propaganda at the time of a surge in extreme-right and fascist movement, by calling to protest against the threat of Islamic terrorism in the West after a policeman was killed in Germany by a young man from Afghanistan. Azar Has been called a mouthpiece of “Islamist”, a scaremonger and deceitful for warning against the threat of rise of fascism in Europe, the threat against immigrants, refugees, Muslims and people from the Middle East. Azar has warned that this time fascists will go after Muslims.

We don’t have to look far to feel the threat of fascism in Europe. Look at the EU parliamentary election, Netherland, Portugal and UK; already in Italy and Sweden fascists are in the government. Most Eastern European countries are under far right governments with an extremely racist culture. The attack on civil liberties in the past years is incredibly alarming. The shift to the right is so strong and so obvious. Just look at the way refugees are treated all over Europe! Don’t you find these alarming? It’s incomprehensible as why one would deny this naked truth. Is it Islamist to point to the threat of fascism in the West? Is it Islamist to say the hatemongering climate of today can create Muslim Ghettos in near future? Name calling is all there is: “Islamist, anti-Semite!”

Balance of Power or Blasphemy

Maryam Namazie has stated that we consider “US-led militarism to be a greater threat” than Islamists, and have judged this as an “alarming position.” First, we have never formulated or proposed such a position. Our position is that the Western state terrorism under the leadership of the US is the greatest danger to the world peace, prosperity and humanity. In the past 30 years, the US, the West and Israel have practically ruined the Middle East; killed millions, displaced millions more; have wiped out any sign of civility in big parts of the Middle East, not to mention Africa and Latin America. 

The West with Israel have created the Islamic terrorist movement and unleashed its monstrous force on the people of the region*, and then under the pretext of “war against terror” (the terror that they created themselves) have bombed the region to ruins. And this war is going on, and the new phase of it is the genocide in Gaza, with the aim of total cleansing of Gaza of its native Palestinian population; and probable expansion of the war. 

It is documented that Islamic regime came to power in Iran as a result of regime change led by the US, in the discourse of the time, creation of a green belt against the Soviet Union; Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Taliban and Al-Qaida were created by the US; Hamas by Israel; later ISIS by US, UK and Israel.  

But the question is why does judging the Western state terrorism as a greater threat, sound alarming to you? Do you really believe that Islamic terrorism has the same weight and power of state terrorism in the international geopolitics? 

Let’s assume, for the sake of the argument that the whole Islamic movement is standing with the Islamic regime of Iran, against the so-called "US-led militarism"; is the power of this Islamic alliance comparable to the power of NATO? Put this statement in front of a teenager who is new to politics and they will laugh. 

Look at the wars and destructions, genocides and massacres, tons and tons of bombs dropped on a whole country, and murderous sanctions imposed on a whole population, in the last thirty years; compare the destructive and criminal power of these two poles. A sense of proportion is a good thing to have. To fight the enemy, you don't need to present it more powerful than it really is. The crimes of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Movement do not need aggrandisement. In order to bring down the Islamic Regime, to organise a socialist revolution, we do not need to make the Islamic Republic look bigger and stronger than it is. This tactic will backfire.

 Are such positions due to ignorance about the political situation in the world, the history of the war in the Middle East and the formation of Israel, the history of 100 years and especially the last seventy-five years of the Palestinian question and the occupation, repression and genocide committed by Israel? Is it due to ignorance about what happened in the Middle East in the past 30 years, not even further back, and the complete destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Palestine and more widely in Africa? Or, is there a political agenda behind these absurd statements and right-wing propaganda? Obviously the latter is the reason for this nonsensical piece of propaganda.

We have been accused of belonging to Islamic movement, simply because we disagree on the size and scale of two political forces. We consider the Islamic movement to be weaker than what Ex-Muslim presents them to be. They believe that political Islam is a greater danger than state terrorism. Hamas is apparently more dangerous than Israel. We disagree with this opinion. Therefore, we have been accused of supporting political Islam.

It is ridiculous! On the one hand, the Islamic movement is so weak that it can be pushed back by protesting naked, drinking alcohol, dancing and singing in front of places attributed to Islam. And on the other hand, it is stronger than Western powers, Israel, America, and NATO. Thus, a greater threat to the world, the West and the region! 

This perception and analysis simply doesn’t make any sense. The process by which they have reached such conclusion is totally unclear. This is a baseless statement and their action is contradictory to their statement. Unfortunately, the entire writing and all that is presented as facts and arguments are incoherent and full of contradictions. 

Moreover, in a world without superstitions and free from certain material and political interests, the issue of the weight and power of a certain movement can be the subject of a logical dialogue. This political disagreement can be discussed; the strength and weight of this force can be disputed. God's word has not been violated, blasphemy has not been committed. But since Ex-Muslim’s aim is defending Israel, this analysis about the weight, power and real extent of the danger of the Islamic movement in the West in the current situation has turned into an accusation. Such a position completely negates any wisdom and logic. It expresses superstition. The real meaning of superstition is the denial of science and logic and holding beliefs without a scientific or real basis. They have swallowed so many superstitions, propaganda and false narratives of Israel and Western ideologues that they don't seem to realise their own contradictions and double standards.

What about Hamas? 

Since we do not condemn Hamas in the Gaza genocide; (Just as we did not condemn Palestinian forces in the previous Israeli genocides in Palestine, for example PLO, despite our deep criticisms of the organisation) we have been accused of supporting political Islam. This is what Netanyahu, Joe Biden, George Schultz, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron say. This is what the mainstream media, CNN and BBC and German and French TV are parroting; Israeli and American spokespersons such as Piers Morgan and Ben Shapiro and famous secularists, such as, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Bill Marr shout.

There is no depth in this argument, because there is no analysis behind it. It is a false narrative of the historical facts. Such an argument cannot be taken seriously, especially from such an organisation. Resorting to such low and superficial methods is an expression of desperation more than anything else.

We have talked a lot about the role of Hamas in Palestine and the relationship between Hamas and Israel. (In Persian, with which Maryam is familiar.) However, it is necessary to explain our position for those unfamiliar with it. 

Hamas is a reactionary, cruel and corrupt organisation that has been created by Israel with the aim of dividing the Palestinian resistance movement. Following the motto of “divide and rule”, Israel funded and helped create Hamas in 1987, 3 years after the Washington conference on Islamic terrorism, organised by Netanyahu. Ever since its creation, Hamas has received millions and millions of dollars from US-backed states such as Qatar. There are recordings of Netanyahu as late as 2019 that he insists on financial support for Hamas as a security tool for Israel. There are so many documents, recordings from Israeli and US politicians who state how Israel and US have kept Hamas alive and kicking. 

As far as 7^th of October is concerned, first, Egypt had informed the Israelis some time before of the plot; second, Gaza is a concentration camp under 24 hour complete surveillance, so not a bird can fly in Gaza without being detected, and it is said that the 7^th October operation was being prepared for a year; how is it possible for the Israeli security service not to have discovered the plot? Third, some of the released hostages and some Israeli servicemen have given testimony to the fact that some of the hostages were killed by Israeli army; the recent evidence exposed in Israeli TV, reveals that Israel has been aware and complicit from the beginning.*

Besides, according to International laws, Israel does not have the right to defend itself against Gaza, as Gaza is an occupied land. Military actions from Gaza against Israel are considered self-defence against occupation.

Therefore, not only us, but also the international laws don’t condemn Hamas for the genocide in Gaza. Hamas was elected as the government of Gaza in an internationally supervised and manipulated election. So, as the government of an occupied land Hamas, Islamic or otherwise, has the right to defend itself. This is International Law, not our invention. In a similar way, the left, the progressive movement of the time never condemned actions taken by ANC during the apartheid era. 

However, we condemn Hamas for crime and repression against Palestinians, for its corruption and theft, for siding and aiding the force of oppression and murder. Hamas is a reactionary and brutal organisation, and it should be exposed for its crimes which does not include genocide. 

Acts of terrorism against the civilian population has always been condemned by us, from whatever organisation for whatever purpose. But this does not mean that you condemn the resistance movement for the crimes of the occupier, the oppressor.

Double standard

When CEMB are criticised, for their silence in regard to Judaism (versus other religions) and the Jewish state of Israel, and when their double standards are exposed, they throw a tantrum and call us “anti-Semites”. This is hypocrisy, pure and simple. Apparently, criticizing Judaism, the Jewish religious establishment and Israel is an anti-Semitic act. This, coming from supposed Secularists. What does this remind you of? The deafening and disgusting propaganda of the BBC, CNN, Western governments, Biden and Blinken, George Schultz and Rishi Sunak and Starmer, Piers Morgan and Ben Shapiro. These tactics  are all used to demonise and shut down discourse and legitimate support for Palestinians (what Maryam calls a guise).

When CEMB is told that their provocative tactics, such as naked protests and drinking alcohol in front of places attributed to Muslims, not only provoke Muslims, but also demonises and degrades them, they reply that Azar and Homa stand with the Islamic Republic and “use the propaganda and moral ethics of Islamists”. Why does our mere criticism of their superficial protests become equal to Islamist support? Have the realms of political discourse become so diluted and reactionary or are we again face to face with Maryam’s inability to form a coherent argument of any substance.

It is interesting that after a lesson about freedom of speech and the right to criticise religion in any form, Maryam calls Azar an anti-Semite for revealing horrifying actions of a synagogue **. Maryam again cannot pick and choose where criticism of religions and their institutions is free speech. 

In criticising the call to Iranians for an anti-Islamic march, Azar Majedi has criticised Mina Ahadi (Founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims) for targeting the Afghan society. Azar stated that this call will not only make the atmosphere very difficult and dangerous for the people, especially young Afghan men and the people of the region, in Germany, but it will also have destructive and dangerous effects on the situation of Afghans in Iran. We warned about the harsh and brutal situation of Afghans in Iran and the violence and oppression of the Islamic regime and anti-Afghan racism inherent in Iranian nationalism. If we apply Maryam and Ex-Muslim’s method of arguing, their action coincides with the actions of the Islamic regime with regard to the Afghan community. 

Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Criticism

Maryam Namazie writes: "Azar says she is in favour of unconditional freedom of speech, but (the same famous but) don't provoke people." Azar has always stated that she defends the unconditional freedom of expression. This is a principle of the programme of “A Better World”, our programme. The right to unconditional freedom of speech is a legal-political relationship between the citizen and the state, not two citizens. This states that you should be entitled to an unconditional freedom of speech and expression without the state and police interference; and Azar has the right to criticise your words and deeds without the intervention of the state and the police. Azar is exercising her right here: criticizing your provocative and hostile methods, humiliating and demonising a part of society, jeopardising their status and security of life.

We sincerely ask: Do you really think about the effects of your “fast defying” protest techniques during month of Ramadan on the children and youth of the Muslim community? When you protest Ramadan and Islam by drinking alcohol and smoking in front of places that are associated with Muslims and Islam, what effects do you think you may have on these children and youth? When you put alcohol and cigarettes as alternative to fasting, what education do you give to these teenagers and young people? How do you enlighten them to a better belief system or ideology? How do you help them question their superstition and reach reason and rationality? What superstition do you break and what truth or wisdom do you replace it with? 

These are real questions. Have you ever thought about them? As a person who believes that she has left Islam due to knowledge, reason and wisdom and wants to enlighten other ignorant people, these questions should be deeply thought of and analysed before making any move. But, following the pattern of Maryam’s thought and reasoning in her writing, it is clear that these questions have not even crossed her mind. The only motivation is the love for provocation.

The irony is that if you put drinking and smoking in comparison to fasting, not only in front of every doctor and healthcare practitioner, but in front of every person with common sense, they will be surprised that someone finds drinking and smoking wiser, more beneficial, rational or reasonable choice compare to fasting. Now do you realise how superficial your campaigns, analyses and propaganda are, without a bit of reflection and sometimes very harmful? 

In the end, we regretfully announce that Maryam’s article is an outstanding example of inability to analyse, apply logic and reasoning, and respect for facts and truth. It is a political propaganda piece. During the genocide in Gaza, Ex-Muslims have come under extreme scrutiny for their silence and words, inactions and activities, especially from the Iranian community, one of their main areas of influence, because of their Iranian origins. 

Ex-Muslims’ situation is very precarious; because in order to be effective and to influence opinions and socio-political climate, they have to enjoy a degree of credibility as an authentic organisation which presents a “progressive voice” against Islam. They have been exposed. The masks have been ripped. The left, progressive, humane, freedom-loving individuals and organisations regard them as a mouthpiece of the Western ruling class and their agenda. The shame of defending Israel in genocide will never be washed away.

And we’ll finish it with a sincere message: You have the power, we have the people. One chooses their path either for material gains, or according to their conscious. You’re on the wrong side of history. 

*Just as the article was being published an important fact was exposed by Israel daily Haaretz English. Haaretz has published leaked documents that prove what some independent journalists were stating all along, that Hannibal act was implemented by Israeli army on 7^th of October; meaning many of the hostages or Israeli soldiers were killed by Israel.

**Her references for fact checks are mainstream media that have lied through their teeth about the genocide in Gaza and defended Israel unwaveringly. So many facts that were regarded as conspiracy theories by the ruling class have now been proven and found their way into mainstream media. These references might be convincing for those who lack any sense of questioning and critic, those who swallow whatever the ruling class, including the mainstream media tell them, but has no relevance to our discussion. Just mention in passing that you don’t need to look too far to find out the truth about Soros. He was a Jewish Nazi collaborator in Hungary, during the war. Even The Jerusalem Post has reported it.

An Open Letter to Oriana Fallaci
Anti-Islamism does not justify racism!

by Azar Majedi

07 July, 2006

This Open letter was written in 2006, 18 years ago, when the Secularist and atheist entities and personalities in the West had not lost credibility; their hypocrisy was not exposed. Their real role in making acceptable the dominant Ideological and political narrative of the New World Order, i.e. the Clash of Civilisations, was not revealed. Oriana Fallaci was the sun rise of the truth. I must admit that at the time I thought this was a small minority; I still regarded the secularist movement as progressive, as I still think secularism is a necessary condition for a free society. However, the genocide in Gaza exposed them all; tore the mask of lies and hypocrisy. All these heroes and Gods of godless are promoting Christianity as opposed to Islam. They have all received divine revelation that Christianity is the pillar of civilisation.

Republished in Tribune Magazine 22 June 2024

Dear Oriana Fallaci

As a life-long activist for women’s rights, for freedom and equality, as a first hand victim of political Islam, and a veteran fighter against it, as an atheist who is a staunch believer in a secular state and secular education system, as a woman who has opposed the hijab, as a secularist who has defended the latest French secular law to ban bearing of any conspicuous religious symbols in public schools, as a campaigner for banning the veil for underage girls and banning religious schools, as a campaigner against honour killings, Sharia courts in Canada, against Islamism and Islamic terrorism, as a staunch defender of unconditional freedom of expression and criticism who defended the right of those who ridiculed Mohammad in the row over the caricatures, I share some of your beliefs and find some very offensive, and let me make it clear, not to Islam, but to human values, to freedom and egalitarian values which are also part of “European culture”.

When you came to Iran to interview Khomeini, I was fighting against him and Islamic regime for women’s rights, against the hijab, and for freedom. I knew you first and foremost for your interview with the Shah. I admired your courage and frankness then. I feel indignant now when I read some of your comments and your latest interview with Margaret Talbot in New Yorker. Your justified hatred against Islam and Islamism has been extended to all Moslems and everyone living under Islam. I am sure you do not need anyone to remind you that this is racism. I am bewildered when I read your comments against immigrants and immigration from countries under the rule of Islam, and find this in contrast with the justified pride you take in your history for fighting against Nazi-Fascism. 

It seems to me that the hate against Islam has pushed you towards Christianity. You have even visited the Pope asking him to take a stronger stance against Islamism. This I find puzzling. How does an atheist in hate of one religion take refuge in another? Your hate against Islamism and political Islam finds expression in Euro centrism. Your disapproval for multiculturalism and cultural relativism has led you to defend “western culture”, instead of universal rights and secular, humanitarian and values and freedom.

As a young girl growing in Iran, under the rule of Islam, I read western philosophers and writers to educate myself with enlightened principles and values regarding equality, freedom and women’s rights. I chose the egalitarian and freedom-loving side of Western culture, and I am bewildered why, you an atheist, a fighter against fascism, had to resort to Euro centrism and racism in order to defend “Western culture”.

Your defence of a superior culture goes as far as expressing more concern about the beheading of Buddha’s statue than murdered, maimed women and men in Afghanistan whose rights are violated daily, who are victims of political Islam and American militarism. This perplexes me. I found it offensive that a human being who enjoys a freedom fighter stature in the eyes of many, cares more about the cultural and physical ambiance of her native country than all those men, women and children who are killed, maimed and violated daily in Iraq. It seems that in defence of “your culture” you, a self-professed atheist, in attacking mosques end up defending the church. As a staunch campaigner against terrorism, I feel indignant when I see our “Western” anti Islamist can only voice condemnation of terrorism taken place in the West. All terrorist acts which take place daily in countries under Islam are mentioned at best only in passing. Are people who have by draw of a lottery been born under the rule of Islam not worthy of your attention, passion and rage?

All these become so ironic when one looks deeply into the root of political Islam. When one remembers how the Western governments unleashed this monster on the people of the region, how they created the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the cold war era, and then helped the Taliban, how in the fear of a leftist revolution in Iran dumped Khomeini on us and helped bring about an Islamic state, when one remembers these recent historical facts, one cannot help but discern a profound sense of hypocrisy and double standard. Sadly the saga of helping political Islam and Islamic terrorism by the Western governments is an ongoing effort. Just look at Iraq! The US and Britain, by invading Iraq, helped Islamists grow monstrously therein. Have you forgotten who the friend of Bin laden was? The tragedy is that as long as this monster was strangling the “native” people, our rage could stay under control, our passion not moved. Those people were not worthy of our passion and compassion!

The Western academia and journalists invented and nurtured the concept of cultural relativism, so that on its basis they could justify compulsory veiling, stoning, maiming and torturing of the people under the rule of Islam. That gave justification for turning one’s head while one’s government made deals with those Islamic states. This concept was invented so under the guise of “respect for other cultures” the brutal crimes and violation of human rights will be brushed aside “respectfully”. We have witnessed how European courts have resorted to cultural relativism in defending deportation of immigrants fleeing the rule of Islam. They have gone as far as stating that the prison conditions in those countries are suitable for those people.

I must state that these arrogant, hypocritical and racist attitudes and policies are an important tool to foster political Islam. If one does not distinguish between the Islamic movement, a reactionary and brutal political movement, and ordinary Moslems who are the first hand victims of this, if one does not distinguish between the oppressor and the oppressed, one becomes an accessory to Islamic brutality.

 We must try and understand the root causes of Islamic recruitment among the so-called Moslem communities in the West. The dominant racism in state policies and attitude and systematic marginalisation of these communities plus the aggression and militarism of the Western governments led by the US against the people in the Middle East, namely, Palestine and Iraq, have directed the youth in these communities to despair and frustration. The revolt of the “suburb” in France is a vivid and sad example of such policies. By rejecting these communities as part of ”us” we leave them at the mercy of the “leaders of the community”, who foster traditionalism, Islamism, sexism, and glorification of the “home land”. These are poisonous brain washings. And I must say that your stance is aiding this process.   

I find it so hard to understand that in despising the oppressor and oppressing ideology you come to despise the victims just as much. No sympathy, no compassion for the victims. No rage and passion provoked for these people who live under these inhumane and brutal conditions. It is amazing that in Mexico witnessing the brutal crushing of a student demonstration, and becoming a victim of it, you came to hate the sufferers just as much as the oppressors. So flippantly, you state you hate “Mexicans” and as a result despise the most impressive show of power and solidarity in the US for the rights of immigrants in recent months.

I was enraged by reading your racist comments. I was indignant by sensing your Euro centrism, by your lack of human compassion for millions who fled the rule of Islam and took refuge in the West in the hope of a better life. I share your despise and indignation for the Islamic movement. But I denounce categorically the racism that is openly expressed by you. And last but not least I must state that I defend the unconditional freedom of expression, and condemn the court which is to try you for what you have expressed in your books. One must be free to express any opinions. This is the pillar of a free society.

Azar Majedi

!The Third Pole is Loud and Clear

June 2024

The horrible mass murder of 9/11 gave America a divine justification for the destruction of the Middle East under the pretext of war against Islamic terrorism. Following this atrocity, America committed genocides in the region. Since 2001, the Middle East has become a constant battlefield, a total ruin. Millions of people have been killed; millions have been displaced. During these twenty-three years, the Middle East has not seen a peaceful day. Bombs are flying in the sky. The final curtain of this crime is the genocide in Gaza. 

America and Western imperialism produced and nurtured Islamic terrorism. Islam, as all other religions, has always been one of the tools of colonialism and imperialism to suppress freedom, progressive values, left and socialist tendencies and movements in the region. Since the 1970s, this movement has acquired a new form. It was with Brzezinski and Carter and their Green Belt project, creating an Islamic belt against the Soviet Union, that the first Islamic state with the mask of “revolutionary” was created. 

The US and the West managed to suppress the 1979 revolution in Iran by organising a regime change and bringing the Islamists into power in one of the biggest and most powerful countries of the region. By creating an Islamic state in Iran, US created a monster and then declared war on its self-made monster.

Then, the Islamic movement was expanded; one organisation after the other was created: Mujahideen, Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Hamas. America and the West used the pretext of these terrorist organisations/ movement to justify the bombing and destruction of the Middle East. But the documents were leaked. The truth was revealed. All these organisations are made by America and the West with the intervention of Israel. In the "Arab Spring" they created ISIS that helps US steal the oil from Syria. Recently, it has been revealed that wounded ISIS soldiers are going to Israel for treatment.

Against this world that was divided into two hate and warmongering poles: state terrorism against Islamic terrorism, we emphasized the third pole. We said that the third pole, the pole of freedom, equality and justice, the pole of humanity, should be awakened and organised. This is our only hope; the only practical way to justice and freedom. 

8 months of genocide in Gaza proved the role of the third pole in this struggle. Millions of people who poured into the streets in defence of the people of Gaza and Palestine, condemning Israel's genocide and the complicity of America and the West in this massacre, and despite the repression by the police, have not yet left the scene, thousands of students who expressed their anger against this genocide by occupying the universities; they are the third pole.

The third pole did not accept the false and ridiculous narrative of Israel and Western ideologues that this is Israel's war with Hamas and it started on October 7. The eyes of the world were opened to the historical facts of Israel and Palestine. 75 years of occupation, genocide, apartheid, daily police repression is the history of Palestine under Israeli occupation. The Palestinian people's resistance movement has now become the spokesperson for the international movement for justice.

The third pole has come to the streets in millions and demands justice; condemns crime and genocide, condemns Israel, America and the West. This huge movement has the potential to defend political and civil liberties and justice in the West against the growth and rise of fascism. The demand for justice for Palestine has become the symbol of the demand for justice in the whole world. People's eyes have been opened. The masks of lies and hypocrisy of the ruling class have been torn. Society has woken up. Now a golden opportunity has been created for the organization of a huge left and socialist movement.

A note about Raisi's death

Raisi, the president of Islamic Republic of Iran found dead in a helicopter crash in north Iran

20 May 2024

The death of president of Iran, Raisi, the executioner of the 80s, one of the biggest criminals in human history, in a plane crash, caused a lot of joy. The relatives of the victims of the 80s smiled with relief that this killer has finally died.

The problem here is that happiness and excitement can end quickly. This death can be a precursor to a much wider and more deadly killing and destruction. This death does not appear to be accidental. It was intentional. The question is, whose job is it? Israel and America? Internal purification? Both are possible, although the first possibility seems more likely. The official Israeli denial immediately creates suspicion. 

But each of the two cases is rooted in the conditions of the region and the increased risk of war. The expansion of the war in the region will kill millions more people. It will destroy what is left of civilisation. People of Iran will be seriously harmed by the expansion of the war. Just think of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, Somalia, Congo, etc. The expansion of the war and the military attack on Iran will place Iran among the list of the cursed.

We freedom-loving, egalitarian, socialist and communist people must protest against the spread of war firmly and steadfastly. The overthrow of the Islamic Republic should be done by the people themselves and by relying on the people's revolution. The overthrow of the regime as a result of the Israeli and American bombs is a repetition of the disaster of the destruction of Gaddafi in Libya.