Friday, September 28, 2012

Indignation will continue until President Aquino blocks blasphemy on YouTube


Indignation will continue until President Aquino blocks blasphemy on YouTube

Muslim indignation over the blasphemous film, “Innocence of Muslims”, will continue and gain momentum unless President Benigno S. Aquino III blocks this vicious attack on the Holy Prophet of Islam (saw) on YouTube.

This indignation will not cease and will express itself in many ways, hopefully not through means that might go beyond the parameters of peaceful and legal remonstrance.  But continue it will, until the national government realizes that blocking this blasphemous film is the most just and practical way to defuse Muslim indignation and maintain peace.

The legal basis on which President Aquino could take action on this issue has been laid down by the Supreme Court, which has issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the public showing of the film in the Philippines in response to the petition filed by leaders of Muslim multi-sectoral groups on September 24, 2012. 

In view of the foregoing, President Aquino no longer has the excuse not to take action. If he could accede to the demand of the Catholic Church in August 2011 to close down an art exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines which was deemed blasphemous to Christianity, there is no reason why he cannot take the same measure against an assault on Islam that is considered as the Philippines’ national heritage and the faith of 10 million Bangsamoro Muslims in Mindanao and Sulu. 

Furthermore, pursuing a policy of inaction and apathy will not augur well for the national government’s effort to resolve the Moro Question. Such a policy sends a wrong signal to the Bangsamoro people. Separatist sentiment, far from having subsided, is strong because it feeds on the historical and current injustices on the Bangsamoro Muslims that have not been redressed until today although peace negotiations are going on between the government and the MILF. The Aquino government will be pushing this separatist sentiment to an irreversible point if it tolerates by its gross inaction this latest assault on the Islamic sensitivities of the Muslims. Indeed, it will only prove that the Bangsamoro people have no place in a Philippine society that is oblivious to the existence, let alone rights, of a Muslim minority that has been minoritized by colonization, annexation and occupation.
We have lost a large part of our ancestral homeland.

We have lost the sovereignty, freedom and independence that we once enjoyed under the Moro sultanate states when our Moro homeland became a part of the Philippine Republic.

All of this we have accepted with patience and have endured the sufferings and humiliation as a consequence therefrom.
We cannot, however, countenance this attack on our Islamic faith.
We cannot allow losing our Islamic faith in the way we have lost our homeland and freedom.

We declare here and now that this latest attack on the Prophet Muhammed (saw) is an attack on our Islamic faith; and an attack on our Islamic faith is an attack on all of us, Muslims, whether at the individual level or at the collective level.
Lest this is not understood by this country and its rulers, the limits of our endurance and patience would be breached by government inaction and apathy. 

We only ask one thing from the Aquino government:

Block the blasphemous film from YouTube! 

Prevention is better than cure. Would this be not possible, Muslim indignation could graduate to the level of Intifada.

signed this 28 of September  2012 at Mendiola, Manila, PH.

 convenors:

 AGAKHAN ‘BINLADEN’ SHARIEF,          DATU HAJ ANSARI D. ALONTO
09399193044 09192269229 /                             09056700365

  DRIEZA A. LININDING,                              DATU NASSER DIMAPINTO
  09215434761

JAMIL ‘MOTAWA’ YAHYA,                          DATU NASIEF MALAWANI

-end-

Saturday, September 22, 2012

An Open Letter to President Benigno S. Aquino III

In the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful


An Open Letter to President Benigno S. Aquino III

Dear Mr. President,

Greetings of peace.

The repeated pronouncements coming from your office stating that you cannot block the US-produced film, “Innocence of Muslims”, from YouTube all in the name of freedom of expression  despite the appeals of the Bangsamoro and Filipino Muslims in this country is, indeed,  very disheartening. We find your office very callous, indifferent, insensitive, uncaring and heartless to us, Muslims, who have been deeply offended and infuriated by this vicious and malicious assault on our religious sensitivities.

We are extremely disappointed by your apathy.

The Philippines claims Islam as her National Heritage because of its role in, and contributions to, the history of this country. Yet we do not understand why your government would tolerate a very nasty assault on this National Heritage that could even have dire implications on the current efforts of your government and the Muslims to resolve the conflict in Mindanao and Sulu. We cannot understand why the ‘freedom of expression’ of that sick mind that created the film would take precedence over national reconciliation and peace between Muslims and Christians, and between the Bangsamoro and Filipinos in the South.  

Allow us to ask you, Mr. President: will you tolerate an insane person to make a film bloated with lies regarding your family and show it on YouTube for everyone to see?  Will you, for example, just take it sitting down if a despicable film is shown depicting Ninoy, your much-respected father, as a sex-maniac and pedophile;  your mother, President Cory, as an adulterer;  or  your sisters as prostitutes and swindlers so that the people could mock and make fun of your family? What will you feel and what will you do in such an oppressive situation? Will you allow that film to stay on YouTube for everyone to see – young and old alike who would not be able to discern if this film is true or false? We do not think that you would not rise to the defense of your loved ones, Mr. President. It would be unnatural or abnormal not to do so.

Mr. President, any Juan dela Cruz in our country who has decency and honor left in him and could afford the services of a lawyer would certainly file a case of libel or moral defamation if someone hurls lies regarding his person or family in print or broadcast media. It is his right to protect himself and his family from character assassination or vilification. He would do all his best to stop the spread of these calumnies and would move heaven and earth to put the perpetrator(s) of this crime behind bars.

The despicable film cannot be compared to a lousy fiction novel or a pornographic magazine that has limited circulation. It has been posted on YouTube with the sinister intent to reach the most number of audiences worldwide to denigrate Islam, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the Muslims. This is why we cannot just ignore this blatantly malevolent travesty of the truth vis-a-vis the life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

Mr. President, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is very much dear to us Muslims.  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the Messenger that brought us to Allah, Most High. We, Muslims, are one nation (ummah) because of him. We have been guided to Tawhid (monotheism) through the divine revelation that Allah had coursed through him. He is the ‘Great Exemplar’, the ‘Mercy to Mankind’, that taught and inculcated in all of us the meaning of compassion and the lofty ethos based on the Islamic principle of universal brotherhood that precludes and abhors racism and the exploitation of man by man and the oppression of man by man.  It is because of him that we have learned tolerance and are, therefore, obligated to respect all religions and to revere all the Prophets of Allah (peace be upon all of them) from Adam to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. 

And Muhammad (pbuh) is the Seal of Prophethood.

It is in this context that anybody who insults Muhammad (pbuh) insults all the Prophets and, therefore, insults us Muslims as well as all the followers of the Abrahamic faiths.  Anyone who assassinates his character humiliates us. To reiterate and put it succinctly, Mr. President, we, Muslims, deem any attack on the person of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an attack on all of us. This explains why individually and collectively, we are protesting against all those who denigrate or malign his person.  We vehemently condemn the showing of that obscene film in this part of the globe which you, Mr. President, are capable of blocking on YouTube if you were to order stopping this assault on Islam and your Muslim constituents, unless of course you no longer consider us part of your constituency. We are deprived of our right against moral defamation and so we demand retribution.

Nay, we demand justice.

Freedom of expression for a liar and an evil man when tolerated by any state or government to bring ‘unpeace’ to 2 billion Muslims and cause mayhem around the world is freedom of assassination.
This, in a very true sense, is terrorism. And those who tolerate it abet it, and, in effect, are driving the world into the precipice of irreversible conflict, violence and war on a global scale.
Mr. President, we are now calling for justice for the insult that has been hurled on the Prophet (pbuh). It is our paramount obligation as Muslims to defend him.  And we will not stop protesting and demanding that the film be blocked from YouTube in this country because for as long as you allow its showing, you allow the perpetuation of the injustice committed on Islam and on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and, therefore, on all of us Muslim citizens of this Republic.

Mr. President, we are asking you to enjoin what is right and prohibit what is wrong.

Please block the film on YouTube as soon as possible. This is all we ask.

In fine, may you be guided and protected by the Almighty Lord of the worlds so that you can chart this country to the TUWID NA DAAN that you have made the guiding philosophy of your administration. 

In peace and justice,

For the Muslim Women Center for Change:
Rowena Awliya Javier-Alonto
Chairperson
September 22, 2012

Freedom of expression is not absolute

 
 
 
Freedom of expression is not absolute...
By. MAJEED M. MOSLEM
Right vs Right. From the premise of relativism of rights, I venture the view that the claim of some Government officials that the video showing Anti-Islamic propaganda cannot be curtailed on the ground of Freedom of Expression is weak, repugnant, illegal and immoral as well. As explained by Justice Isagani Cruz, freedom of expression is not absolute. It does not cover ideas offensive to public order or decency or the reputation of persons, which are all entitled to constitutional protection. He said that obscene and seditious words cannot be considered "a step to truth" and therefore will not enjoy immunity from prohibition and punishment. Now, tell me if such anti-islamic video is not offensive to public order, decency or reputation of persons as Muslims? Are they telling us that this freedom of expression principle can legitimize and make valid the immoral contents of this video? Are they suggesting that we are helpless just because a certain
lousy american named Sam Bacile is exercising his freedom of expression? Certainly, this cannot be done because exercise of such freedom of expression cannot institutionalize wrongdoings, fraud and immoral acts calculated only to destroy one's own religious belief.

Law of Constitution. Constitutional reading of our Bill of Rights, like freedom of expression, cannot be made by simply citing the number provision and read the same as if one is reading a forwarded text message. Laws are not known because they are written in books but because they are applied in the light of prevailing circumstances and conditions to achieve the real meaning of justice. Laws alone cannot be made a sole basis for a judgment. Facts and law must come together because it is the former that will give life and meaning to the latter. If we negate this principle, that is, we set aside the factual and lawful sentiments of our Muslim brothers just because of this right of freedom of expression, then definitely a situation will arise that a law is used as a license to perpetrate illegal and immoral acts. Certainly, this is not the law of our constitution. Stated differently, there is no law in this world, natural or legislative, that can be used as an instrument in perpetrating injustice to other people. Known is that a right ceases to be as such when it violates another's right.

Divine obligation. That this sharing is written not for the purpose of publication but to personally fulfill a divine obligation to defend our faith as Muslim Ummah and to show a simple thought of respect to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)... A prophet that is even willing to suffer the fire of hell solely for his Ummah. A sacrifice that even our parents could not make for us. A love that has no equal on earth...

Done this friday of September 2012.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The televised word delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, September 16, 2012.



The televised word delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, September 16, 2012.

In The Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Peace be upon our Master and Prophet – the Seal of prophets – Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and on his chaste and pure Household, his chosen companions and on all prophets and messengers. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.
My word today will primary tackle what we have witnessed during the past few days – namely publishing sections from the movie insulting the Prophet of Allah, Mohammad (Peace be upon him and his Household) and the protests which started taking place in the Arab and Islamic world. I want to pose before this great and serious incident – first in comprehending it, then in confronting its targets and third in the way which we must deal with it as we must all be responsible.
First we tackle what took place. It's the few minutes which were published on the various websites and I believe were watched by millions of people around the world. We do not know if they are tens of millions or hundreds of millions as this is available for all. It's also the insult to the Prophet of Islam, Mohammad (peace be upon him and his Household), to his own person, to his honor, to his wives, to the Holy Koran as a divine book, and to Islam as a religion. This is the truth. The few minutes which we watched manifest insults in all of these directions.
I believe that this extent of insult is very great and very dangerous. Perhaps I may also claim that it is unprecedented so far. Even if we wanted to compare that to the Book (Devilish Verses) for the apostate Salman Rushdi or the sketches insulting the Prophet of Allah, Mohammad (Peace be upon him and his Household) which were published in some European newspapers or the blazing of some copies of the Koran in the USA, we find that though all of these incidents are great and serious, our case today is even greater and more serious.
After all, as far as the (Devilish Verses) is concerned, it did not reach the hands of many. Whoever wants to know the content of the book must buy the book and read it or search for it if it is found on the internet. As for the sketches, they are insulting on a definite direction. As for burning the Koran, the motives are well known. However, in this case we are before scenes which are comprehended by the young and the old. Even you don't need to know the language. It is also available through the internet which is accessible worldwide.
So, in content, form and accessibility, what took place and is taking place is very great and serious. What is even worse is the insistence of the websites on publishing these scenes and on carrying on broadcasting them and on not stopping doing so.
This is a very serious incident on the track of the war and insult against Islam and the Great Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household). This requires a great stance from the great Islamic nation that stands the danger and aggression. That's because our Great Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him and his Household) is the greatest, the holiest, the most honorable and dignified man we belong to after Allah Al Mighty. I even believe that what took place is more serious than burning Al Aqsa Mosque in 1969. In 1969, when a section of Al Aqsa Mosque was burnt, the Arab and Islamic states met and a summit on the level of presidents, kings, princes and rules was held and through this summit, the Organization of Islamic Conference (which is now known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation) was founded. Silence on this extent and magnitude of insult to the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him and his Household) is more serious.
I will tell you what is even more serious. The nation which remains silent on this level, this extent and this magnitude of insult to its Prophet is conveying a wrong message to the Israelis to the effect that you can demolish Al Aqsa Mosque because you are before a dormant impotent nation which is unable to do anything.
Today, defending the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household) is defending all the sanctities, is defending Al Aqsa Mosque, is defending all prophets – Abrams, Moses, and Jesus Christ, and is defending all divine religions and all divine books. Thus comprehending the magnitude of the cause puts us before obligations. Thus we must not deal with the case as incidental which we may overcome or as the other casual incidents which take place around us in the world.
The second point is how to deal with this incident and how to confront it. On the level of sound reflection, in confronting any incident on a people or a nation – whether it was a military, political, intellectual, cultural or economic aggression - we must usually work on two levels:
The first level is knowing the targets of the aggressions and working at crippling them or frustrating them – meaning preventing the aggression from achieving its goals.
The second level is working at preventing the recurrence of this aggression in the future. That means shutting the door tight before such aggressions and letting the aggressor understand that he is not allowed to return to this aggression or sin or crime. People usually work on these two levels.
First, I will talk about the first level. There are goals for this repetitive insult to Islam, the Prophet of Allah, and the Holy Book of Allah. We must set a group of supposed goals. We do not have enough time to tackle them all. However, I would like to pose before one of these serious targets which is causing sedition between Muslims and Christians, and dragging Muslims and Christians to a religious, sectarian, bloody struggle worldwide. This is one of the fixed targets for this form of aggression which is practiced from time to time. What stresses this concept is the groups that stand behind this kind of aggressions. We may talk about the Zionism. We may talk about some Jewish groups. We may talk about Israel. However who must be in the front? It must be a Muslim apostate such as Salman Rushdi or a Christian. In the incident of burning copies of the Holy Koran, a Christian Clergyman –Jones – is hurled to the front to do that before the eyes and in the hearing of the whole world.         
This insulting movie is referred to a Copt clergyman called so and so. I don't want to mention his name because we must verify these media data. However the case is referred to a Copt clergyman and to a Copt Christian society in the USA. Why clergymen, priests and Christian societies are hurled to the front so that under their name insulting Islam, the Prophet of Islam and the Islamic nation is perpetrated?
This is intentional and deliberate. The same applies to the European newspapers and the artists who drew sketches insulting the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household). They suppose that when Muslims watch these movies or see these sketches they will grow angry for their Prophet, Koran and religion. And as the mind of revenge, reprisal, anger and agitation would act first, Christian sides would be accused and Christians would be aggressed against as well as Christian churches and Christian sanctities and Christian religious symbols. Thus we – as Muslims and Christians - would get involved in a sectarian, religious, bloody war. Consequently, Israel, the Jewish-Zionist movement and Zionist Christianity would mount the ivory tower to see mosques and churches being set to fire and the disjointed limbs of men, women and children whether Muslims or Christians scattered here and there. Thus their far-fetched aspirations would be achieved.
Praise be to Allah, spiritual and political leaders whether Muslims or Christians, scored high in the way they dealt with such incidents in the past.
Facing this new incident, the wrath of the Arab and Islamic peoples was directed towards the policies of the USA and Israel instead of towards Christians. This is an excellent and a positive indicator because it manifests a great extent of awareness among Muslims and Christians alike. All were worried on Egypt above all because the insulting movie was referred to Egyptian Copts as was reported in the media. It is clear that some are pushing things towards fighting between Muslims and Copts in Egypt.
Anyway, today also Christian religious and political leaders on top of whom are the senior patriarchs of the Christian sects in the East made haste and condemned the insulting movie. This also had a decisive effect in crippling this goal as it is expected that this aggression carries on in various forms in the future as it is not over yet because the scenes are still broadcasted on the internet. Even more the producers and the concerned in this movie are still threatening of publishing the whole movie. They talk about a two-hour-movie. If twelve minutes were not bore by human heart and tolerated by a human being, how can man bear two hours?
Before the continuing aggression which is expected to be renewed in other forms, this awareness among Muslims and Christians must be asserted as well as not allowing moving towards ordeal in any country or square or place in this world. The persons who are directly concerned in this film and those who back them, support them and protect them – on top of whom is the USA - must be held responsible, tried, punished and boycotted. By the way, the same applies to the cases in which aggressions are staged against Christian churches, Christian civilians, or Christian sanctities by groups referred to Islam in some countries. Christians also are supposed to limit the conflict to the aggressors and their supporters and protectors so as to evade any form of sedition. That's because we decisively say that some of these groups which are referred to Islam are manipulated by foreign intelligence apparatuses which work for the same goal I tackled a while ago.
This is as far as the first level is concerned – i.e. working at frustrating the goals of this insult and this aggression on the dignity of the Prophet of Islam and the Islamic Nation. Indeed there are other goals which we may tackle in other occasions such as insulting Islam, deforming the Islamic intellect, deforming the Islamic line of conduct and the events of the first era in Islam. This also must be confronted in addition to other goals.
I will talk about the second level which is preventing such an aggression in a while in the framework of the following point.
Third, this movie was produced in the USA. Let's specify things in a realistic way. The movie was produced in the USA. There are persons concerned in producing this movie, achieving it as well as promoting it.
Good! Muslims are telling the American government: The movie was produced in the USA. You are saying – as they tried in the past few days to say – that you are not concerned in the production of the movie. Even some in the Arab and Islamic world tried to defend the US administration in this framework saying the US administration is not concerned. I do not want to argue this point and who stands behind the movie and who funds it…. We will leave this to time.
However, the Islamic world whose Great Prophet and his dignity, honor and Koran were insulted demands the following from the US government:
First, stop publishing the scenes referred to the insulting movie. However, the US government does not do anything. They said that they contacted the concerned site and the latter said they will not stop broadcasting the scenes. Here the story ends.
The Islamic world calls on the US government to prevent publishing the entire movie later on.
The Islamic world calls on the USA to try and punish those who aggressed against the dignity, religion and the honor of a billion and 400 million people in this world. It is an entire nation. In fact, it is one of the greatest nations in the Globe. However, the US administration does not take any action. On the contrary, it is saying that it will not do anything whether now or in the future. The pretext is well known. It is the very symphony of freedoms, freedom of expression and the US principles and the like.
Brothers and sisters! The USA is offering new additional evidence on its hypocrisy, delusion and double standards in dealing with causes which have to do with entire nations at times. We heard as you did – and I do not want to reiterate much of the information – in the past few days on satellite TV channels, many dialogues and statements which tackled this case and evidences were mentioned that the case is not as such whether in the USA or Europe. They gave many evidences on trying and punishing intellectual, political and media personalities, societies, institutions, satellite channels, websites and employees in the public and private sectors as well as states and conferences because of their intellectual track and because of what they express their viewpoints in only. They gave examples that such sides would be sanctioned because they do not take a stance from the Zionist cause or because they talk about Israel's massacres in Occupied Palestine or are skeptic about the Holocaust or the like. They named some personalities starting by Roger Garaudy to journalists, intellectuals and states. They even said that the USA links much of its aids to many of the states in the world not only to the level of their official performance, but also to the performance of the private sector in that state with respect to Anti-Semitism. Doesn't this come under the freedom of expression?
On 16/10/2004, President George Bush endorsed an act pursuing Anti-Semitism worldwide. Some sides said that this act targets any conduct, statement, or allusion in word, action, images, caricature, sketches or writing that harms Jews, Zionists or Israel in a direct or in an indirect way as a discrimination against Jews – and it noticeably equates between Jews, Israel and Zionism. Even more, they set procedural mechanisms. They formed a special chamber in the State Department concerned in implementing this act on the level of the USA and the world as well as on the level of the performance of governments around the world besides the private and nongovernmental organizations in the world. The US State Department presents its report yearly to the US Administration and the Senate. On light of this report, measures and sanctions are taken against governments, states, institutions and persons. Isn't that so? This is not on the level of the USA only but also on the level of the world as a whole.

This has been put to action and is still taking place since 2004 up till today. TV channels were sanctions. For example because Al Manar TV Channel broadcasted (The Exodus) series, it was tried and fought in France and in the world. The same applies to other TV channels.
Don't Muslims – the nation of a billion and 400 million Muslims and the followers of a great divine religion and the followers of a Great Prophet and who have this status and presence in the world – deserve that a similar act be issued, or is it rather that here freedom of expression must be confronted while in that case it must be open wide?

So as far as this point is concerned, I will only say: We are anew before deception and hypocrisy. This is new evidence on the deception, hypocrisy and double standards of the USA in dealing with causes which do not have to do with politics or economy or security or wars only but also with dignities, sanctities and what harms nations as a whole.

This must be deep-rooted in the awareness of the Arab and Islamic peoples as well as in the awareness of all peace, coexistence and tolerance loving peoples in the world whether they are Christians or followers of other religions, ideas or ideologies.

Fourth comes working on preventing the renewal of such an aggression in the future. This is what is most important. That means that we do not become satisfied in protesting, demonstrating and expressing our anger today and then go back home. Well, such protests took place in the past and they did not prevent the repetition of the aggression on our Prophet, sanctities and Koran. They will not prevent that now or in the future.

In the past and in confronting (Devilish Verses), protests took place and they were more massive than the current protests. Imam Khomeini (May Allah glorify his secret) issued his well-known fatwa, and he was backed by senior Muslim religious men in the world. This had a very effective influence and such an aggression was prevented for years. In fact, the book and the author were besieged as well as the concerned bookshops, publication houses…. That led to excellent results in this domain. However, lately, we came back to the same old story: insulting sketches in European newspapers, burning copies of the Koran and now the case is even more dangerous and greater as I said at the beginning of my word.
What does that mean? We must move towards closing this door decisively tight. Now this is the historic responsibility which is shouldered by the entire Islamic Nation as well as every honorable Christian who cares and believes in coexistence and religious tolerance. This is the occasion to put a decisive end to this cause and to close the door tight forever.

Is that possible? Yes, that is possible through several things. Let's give some examples. I am not bringing anything new. I am rather organizing the idea.
First: Working on issuing an international act in various senior international institutions which criminalizes insulting divine religions at least or at least the great prophets especially Abrams, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad (Peace be on them all). This is possible and within reach when an international act or resolution is issued on condition of being bound in all nations and governments around the world and even applicable over national laws in any state around the world. This closes the door tight because everyone would know that whoever writes or draws or produces a movie or publishes…would be punished in any place around the world and will not find any defender or protector.

This is possible and within reach and later we will talk about its mechanism.
Second: This is possible not only on the international level but also in the USA and Europe themselves.
Well, in the United States, didn't the Congress issue an act which criminalizes Anti-Semitism?
The Congress may issue a similar act which criminalizes insulting the great prophets of Allah. What does forbid that? The legal reasons are similar. The same legal reasons in Anti-Semitism exist here. Why do they criminalize here and they don't criminalize there?

In this perspective, the Islamic communities in the USA assume a great historic religious responsibility. Are they able to press to this effect? Zionists or Jews or the Jewish societies are not more in number. They may be more influential. Still the Islamic societies and communities in the USA may practice pressure in this perspective.

The case here is not linked to one of the Muslim sects or one of the Muslim personalities. It is linked to the Prophet of Muslims and the Koran of Muslims. Now as the US presidential elections are approaching, Islamic communities in the United States can play a forceful pressing role to the effect of issuing such acts or gaining commitments from this or that competing parties to the effect of issuing such an act.
The so called friends of America in the Islamic and Arab world can also practice pressure in this direction. I will tackle the mechanism for this step in a while. The entire free world must pressure in this direction.
The case is not anymore that of aggressing on the dignity of a person. The case started harming and will in the future harm regional, national and international peace and security. We do not know how things may move, and we do not know if the wrath of hundreds of millions among the followers of this prophet or that prophet who are insulted may be reigned.

The same applies to the European parliaments and the European Parliament. Well, now in the European parliaments similar acts are being issued. Whoever denies the so and so massacre would be criminalized. Whoever denies the Holocaust would be criminalized. Didn't Garaudy face this calamity? So let them issue acts to this effect: whoever insults the divine religions will be criminalized. As such, this door will be shut close forever.

 As for follow up mechanisms, the issue requires a call for an emergency summit for the Organization of Islamic Conference. Well an attempt to burn or burning a section of Al Aqsa Mosque led to the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Conference. Few weeks ago, an Islamic Summit was held in Holy Mecca even under the pretext of what is taking place in Burma or in Syria or in Palestine. However, what is taking place today is greater and more serious.

This is your Prophet! O rulers, kings, princes and presidents! This is your Prophet. This is your Koran! This is your Islam! This is your religion! This is your nation which dignity is being insulted today. It is weird that many among you are not taking any action. I swear that if this movie tackled one of the Arab and Muslims' kings, princes, or presidents as it tackled Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him and his Household), you would have noticed the wrath of this king, prince or president and his family, party, government and country in a way different from what we are witnessing now. This is really sorrowful.
So as for the follow up mechanism, an emergency summit for the Organization of Islamic Conference must be held. If we are very feeble in the Arab and Islamic world, at least an emergency session for the Foreign Ministers in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation may be held, and a draft resolution or a draft law would be set. Thus all Arab and Islamic states may head to the UN, the USA, and Europe and call for this law to become an international law, an American law and a European law. We are a nation which owns marvelous capabilities on the political, economic, materialistic, media, cultural and intellectual levels. Are we to this extent unable to defend our prophet, Koran and sanctities?

The responsibility of the Islamic peoples today is to demand that from its rulers and governments. This is the least we may do as Islamic peoples to this effect. It is not enough to express our wrath towards the US Embassy here and there. We must tell our rulers in the Arab and Islamic world that this is your responsibility above all. As you represent officially the Arab and Islamic governments and states, you are able to impose on the USA and Europe and on the whole world to respect our Prophet, Koran, sanctities and the honor of our Prophet.      
   
This is the public stance, and this is the sound conduct. If we want to confront the aggression, and if we want to prevent an aggression on the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household), the Koran, the wives of the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household), the honor of the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household), Islam, and religion in the future, we must move in this direction and we must let the whole world understand that this cause has a sequel and that the nation can't remain silent on continual harm and insult in this appalling and serious way.

As for Lebanon, indeed and praise be to Allah in the past three days – today and the past couple of days – Lebanon expressed a high level of immunity in confronting the target of the aggression I tackled in the previous point – the religious struggle between Muslims and Christians. On the contrary, Lebanon presented a new model and evidence on coexistence between Muslims and Christians and on their living in unity and mutual respect for each others' religious symbols, sanctities, and personalities. This is what we have witnessed in the past three days through the visit of the Head of the Catholic Church in the world to Lebanon, and the meetings that comprised Muslim and Christian religious leaderships, Muslim and Christian political leaderships and symbols, and Muslim and Christian people and youths. The visit was wrapped up peacefully and to the national and public interest God willing.  
    
Lebanon, the country of coexistence, can play a special and distinctive role because it is a country of Islamic-Christian coexistence and because what took place and what is taking place now is targeting the Prophet of Islam and the sanctities of Muslims by persons who are referred to Christianity. Lebanon has a special post in this confrontation. Hereof, I address His Eminence the President of the Republic, the Speaker, the Parliament, the Premier, the Lebanese Government, religious leaderships, Muslims and Christians in Lebanon, and the various political movements (March 8 and March 14 Blocs) because this issue is above political divisions and internal conflicts. I address them saying: In this stage, Lebanon may play the role of a message on the international level. How is that so? Lebanon now is a member in the Arab League. It chairs the Arab Foreign Ministers Council. It is a member in the OIC. It is a member in the UN General Assembly.  In the coming few weeks, the UN General Assembly will convene. Lebanon may call for an emergency session for the Arab League at the level of foreign ministers at least. Still Lebanon may call on Iraq – and I call on the Iraqi government to take such a step. Official Lebanon may make a call upon a national, popular, official and political consensus, for an Islamic summit for the OIC to adopt such ideas: criminalizing insulting the great prophets of Allah, the divine religions and the divine books.

Lebanon may do that. Religious leaders through their meetings and through their relations with the Arab and Islamic world and the world, especially Europe, may also play a distinctive role in this perspective.
The Lebanese government must take a decisive stance. The Lebanese parliament must take a decisive stance. Speaker brethren Nabih Berri has a long and vast experience in dealing with Arab, Islamic and international parliaments. He also can play a role in the Lebanese Parliament, and can as well have a distinctive role on the parliamentary level worldwide to the effect of endorsing acts of this kind in world parliaments.

Yes! Lebanon can play a role much larger than its size as Lebanon has always been larger than its size in causes that have to do with culture, values, civilization, intellect, living in unity, and divine religions. Today Lebanon is called on to play a great role of this kind.

On the popular level, popular demands must carry on. As concerning the first level, first people must call for stopping publishing these scenes on the internet. Second, they must call for preventing publishing the whole movie later on. Third, they must call for trying and punishing those concerned in the insulting movie so that they be taken as an example for anyone who might think of aggressing against our prophet and Koran. This is possible through popular movements on the level of the Islamic world and the whole world. Demonstration is one form of popular movements as well as protests, sit-ins, statements, meetings, articles…. The media plays a very great role here besides political forces, elite movements, and popular movements. Cadres may be formed in every country – a committee or a pursuing chamber – to pursue such persons and to follow up the primary cause and to work for introducing laws that criminalize insulting divine religions in law institutions in the world. So, all of these actions must carry on.

Here also I must call the attention of the Arab and Islamic peoples and of Muslims in general to the fact that America's friends in the world and in the Arab and Islamic world specially will work at cooling things down so that people forget. Events and causes will be fabricated, and the media and Arab satellites will be made to focus on them upon the call of the US Administration so that this cause would faint. Thus we must be cautious. Today the Muslims living in this age and generation assume a very great historic, moral, religious, and faithful responsibility. If we do not fully assume the responsibility, they will again insult our Prophet as well as all the former prophets and our Holy Book as well as all holy books and all religions and the dignity of the entire nation.

Also on the Lebanese level, indeed we must have taken the initiative to call for demonstrations earlier. However, as I have said, in the past few days, we had a special situation and we feared any popular movement may be exploited in any of the Lebanese regions for wrong ends which may serve the goal of the enemy. Thus we chose Monday to be the beginning of the movement though we were among the first to issue statements and to announce their condemnation for the insult and their willingness to confront.

Our call for demonstration tomorrow in Dahiyeh at five pm is part of a movement which must carry on and integrate in Lebanon as well as in the Arab and Islamic world. I tell the peoples in the Arab and Islamic world and in every country and state: We must not be content that in the so and so capital they demonstrated saying that is enough. No! In every city – I am not saying in every village – Muslims must hit the street and express their wrath and anger.
The entire world, world governments and world parliaments must see this as it is very influential. All of these governments and parliaments must understand that their interests with our Arab and Islamic world are linked to their respect to the sanctities of the Arab and Islamic world.

In Lebanon, tomorrow, Inshallah we will have a rally in Dahiyeh. I am not telling people to bother themselves and come from the various regions. This rally is for Great Beirut – meaning Beirut and its suburbs and its southern suburb (Dahiyeh) as movements in the other regions will take place as well. I am calling for demonstration in the city of Tyr on Wednesday afternoon, in the city of Baalbeck on Friday after prayers, in the city of Bint Jbeil on Saturday afternoon and in the city of Hermel on Sunday afternoon. We may work at least at the level of these dates. We call on the residents of the neighboring towns and districts to participate in the rallies in these cities. Thus let the district be the center for these movements all through the coming days to express this stance.

Wrapping up my word, I would like also to make a call for those whom I am calling to assume the responsibility and to demonstrate. I tell them all those we are calling on to demonstrate in the coming few days and especially those whom we expect and wait for their attendance tomorrow Monday at five in the afternoon in front of Sayyed Ashuhada (Peace be upon him) Compound in Dahiyeh:

O honorable people! You were always present in the squares of defense of dignity, honor, pride, sovereignty, the nation and sanctities. When blood was supposed to be shed, you offered your blood. When souls were to be offered, you offered your souls. When offering the dear one was demanded, you offered your dear ones as sacrifices. When money was to be offered, you were not reluctant to give your money and homes. You bore great risks and pains. You never failed to partake in the procession of obligation fulfillment.

O honorable ones! Every year on the tenth of Muharam you flood squares and fields whether men, women, young, or elderly for long hours to answer the call of Al Hussein (Peace be upon him) – the grandson of the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him): Who is there to offer me support? On every tenth of Muharram of every year, you tell him with your hearts, voices and upraised fists: At your service, O Hussein!                    
O honorable people! He who is calling on you today is the grandfather of Al Hussein (Peace be upon him). He is Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him and his Household) who was insulted as well as his dignity and morals though he is the greatest moral man in existence and in history. His Koran, honor, wives, religion, Islam, history and biography were insulted. So answer the call of your Great Prophet and Messenger.

O Honorable people! The whole world must see you tomorrow and in the coming few days in Dahiyeh, Tyr, Baalbeck, Bint Jbeil, Hermel and in every city you are responsible in as well as in every place you are present in the Arab and Islamic world and in the world as Lebanese communities. The whole world must see the wrath in your faces, fists and shouts. The whole world must know that this Great Prophet has followers who will not remain silent on insult or humiliation no matter how precious sacrifices were. Let the shouts be strong, resonant and reverberating tomorrow with the call: At your service, O Prophet of Allah! Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.              

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Bangsamoro Muslims hold protest rally against US-made anti-Islam film

Bangsamoro Muslims hold protest rally against US-made anti-Islam film
Report by Drieza Lininding, Marawi City


Marawi City, September 17, 2012 –
The Bangsamoro people from Mindanao, South of the Philippines, joined the worldwide protest from Benghazi (Libya), Cairo (Egypt),Tehran (Iran), Sana’a (Yemen) to other parts of the world against the people behind the film, "Innocence of Muslims", whose trailer is posted on YouTube that has caused and sparked deadly assaults on US embassies around the globe, by staging a mammoth protest rally of their own in Marawi City.

Nearly thirty thousand (30,000) Moro protesters had gathered at the historic Plaza Cabili, Gomisa Avenue,  Marawi City. Moro Muslims from all walks of life trooped to the busy streets of the city to vent their fury over the filthy film that malevolently depicts the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his Companions, including his wives and family, in the most malicious manner.

Religious leaders, politicians, government officials, people from the academe and women and youth representatives delivered fiery speeches against the people behind this film.

Anonymous Muslim donors distributed food and water to the crowd to help them beat the heat from the scorching sun while listening to the speakers.

The highlight of said rally was the burning of the American and Israeli flags.  The protesters blame the US and Zionist Israel for the demonizing propaganda against Islam.

A leaflet was distributed among the crowd from an unnamed organization in which a part of it reads: “What these facts reveal is that the film has the familiar signature of the US Christian Right, a far-Right Christian religious fascist movement that has its tentacles stretching from the US to Europe. The Christian Right is politically allied with the neo-cons and ‘biblically’ and fanatically supports the Zionists. Such an unholy alliance gained tremendous power and influence in the US during the regime of US President George W. Bush, whom they absolutely controlled. The alliance’s control of the White House led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the ‘global war on terrorism’ which was, and is, being fought in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, Pakistan and in other theaters of confrontation where Muslims are domiciled. This ‘global war on terrorism’ is, for all intents and purposes, a war against Islam and the Muslims.”


"We are not terrorists nor an angry mob: we are the voice of the oppressed Muslim Ummah around the globe, whose brothers in Occupied Palestine are suffering, whose brothers, mothers, and children in Iraq and Afghanistan were and are being killed by the Western Powers; we are the voice of Muslim Believers whose Religion is now being ridiculed by ignorant and stupid people behind the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’. We are the Oppressed People defending what is left of our dignity”, said Muhammad D. Salahuddin, a youth leader and one of the protesters.

Agakhan M. Sharief, one of the Lead Organizers of the protest rally and a Muslim Moro youth leader, "warns that the Philippine government should block the showing of this film in this country to avoid deadly confrontations between Muslims and non-Muslims.”

"We will not allow any form of insult to our Religion and to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to any of the Messengers and Prophets of Allah; we will take it as an assault and we will surely respond and we are not afraid to die," added Agakhan M. Sharief.

A Muslim lady who occupies a high ranking position in the government appealed to the national government to criminalize the showing of this film in the Philippines. This is also the demand of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as stated in its official website.

The spontaneous protest was organized through 2-way radio forums, text messages and through the Internet. One political analyst based at the Mindanao State University (MSU) was surprised at the huge turn-out of protesters. He opines that the sinister characters behind the film “failed to prove the ‘Innocence of the Muslims’ regarding their religion." He further said that “what we saw today are people determined to defend their faith even if it will cost them their lives. What transpired today proved them (the people behind the film) wrong."
Meanwhile, Brother Maulana M. Alonto, a member of the MILF Peace Negotiating Panel, when asked to comment on the worldwide Muslim protest and the Marawi rally, stated as a matter-of-factly: “While we do not and cannot condone any act of senseless violence against innocent people as this is against Islam, this act of protest is an Islamic obligation. What is transpiring should be a lesson to all nations and governments: that they can insult Muslims but they cannot insult the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammed (saw), without setting the world on fire.”  

The rally ended peacefully with no reported violence and no one was hurt.
As this report was being filed, the information that similar protest rallies planned by Muslims in other cities has reached us as the Philippine government released an official statement that it cannot and will not block the offensive and filthy film in YouTube. 
                                                   -end-

Thursday, April 19, 2012

WE DO NOT BELONG...

By Robert Muhammed Maulana M. Alonto
MILF Peace Negotiating Panel

(Speech delivered during the Annual International Conference of the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA) hosted by Xavier University at Cagayan de Oro City, April 12-14)

I belong to a generation that is said to have rapidly grown to maturity in a period marked by an exploding political and social turmoil. To borrow the words of Charles Dickens in his classical novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”, that period was “…the best of times and the worst of times”.

It was the ‘60s and pre-martial law ’70. The music of ‘The Beatles’, the ‘Bee Gees’ and ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’ melded with the sounds of street bullhorns and fiery revolutionary slogans emitted by angry voices from the marching crowd of rowdy youthful student demonstrators in their unwashed blue denims chanting defiance and clenching their raised fists at the Establishment. Sounds that also echoed the bursts of gunfire and teargas explosions fired from the phalanx of state security forces out to disperse protestant mass actions and eradicate any form of dissent.

It was a period of rebellion by young activists against a decrepit dog-eat-dog society; a society devoid of morality and conscience whose long-entrenched socials ills had already metamorphosed into a ‘cancer’ exacerbated by the rapacity of a ruling elite oblivious of the ‘unwashed’ hoi polloi consigned to abject silence and helpless resignation while wallowing in the midst of appalling poverty and a hand-to-mouth monotonous life of unmitigated despair on account of hopelessness. It was a period of the coming confrontation between an infant revolution, on one hand, that was born on the streets and campuses – or so we thought then - but had almost withered away when the going was at its toughest, and a reactionary state, on the other, that was well on its way to installing a dictatorship while a so-called dominant middle class - smugly complacent and comfortable in its position of apathy – remained fixated on the bourgeois illusion to reach that rarified atmosphere of wealth, fame, pomp, grandeur and obscene extravagance exclusive only to the elites ensconced in their ivory towers.  

It was in this milieu that our rebellious generation was ‘born’ into; a milieu that inevitably many among us would never see its end because they eventually either fell in one battle or another in the mountains of Mindanao and Sulu or had disappeared in the night never to be seen again. But it was also in this tumultuous milieu whereupon our defiant and rebellious generation earned for itself that nomenclature ‘The First Quarter Storm Generation’.

Belonging to the ‘First Quarter Storm Generation’, as my old friends from the North would invariably aver, confers on this generation that privilege and right to partake of the jubilation accompanying the commemorative celebration of that ‘historic moment’ in 1986 when the Dictatorship, which we all fought against in the streets and, our case, in the jungles of Mindanao in the days of our rebellious youth, finally met its ignominious end. So when by chance in February of this current year (2012) I met these old friends from the North, or what remained of them, sporting the now customary yellow ribbon that has become the symbol of the so-called People Power Revolution in 1986, I was asked why I did not wear one as the occasion of the commemoration of that ‘historic event’ requires, as if it were a coveted badge of honor. “Aren’t you a Moro of the ‘First Quarter Storm Generation’?” so went the friendly but, to me, provocative query.
For old times’ sake, I did not respond to my friends’ incredulous nagging question. Had I told them that I do not belong to what they call the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, they would not have understood. They would never have accepted any reason that explains why to a Moro Muslim like me, the commemoration at EDSA does not hold any meaning or import.
But friends are friends whatever the differences may be. I owed them an answer – an answer coming from the recesses of the heart.
And so here it is:
The school of revolution and struggle (jihaad) is the best university that a man can enroll in. Here, there is no graduation, no Ph.D. Learning is constant and ‘infinite’ until one finally joins his Creator. Here, one learns the truism that injustice flourishes like the perennial wild weed because it is watered by the silence and indifference of people. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the American civil rights movement once said: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

In retrospect, for more than a decade the Marcos dictatorship slaughtered the Bangsamoro people. This was met by silence from the people of the Filipino North. This ‘ethnic cleansing’ went on with intense ferocity and methodical brutality until the Dictatorship turned on the 'silent people' themselves and murdered Ninoy Aquino. Then and only then that that 'silence' morphed into anger that culminated in what they now call and commemorate as the EDSA Revolution. More than a million people, nay millions of people, surged out into the streets of Manila to kick out a despicable dictator in February 1986.

But in 1970, which was the Ilaga depredations in Mindanao, and up till the entire duration of martial law, more than one million Muslim Moros were uprooted from their homes, over 500,000 had to flee to Sabah (Malaysia), and over 200,000 were killed.

Yet, not even a handful, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, let alone a million, marched in the streets of Manila to decry the mass slaughter that was going on in Mindanao and Sulu. There were no yellow ribbons, black ribbons, red ribbons or any colored ribbon that one could think of under the rainbow that would even convey or symbolize a modicum of sympathy for the carnage being unleashed on us in the Moro South. Neither were there pins or streamers that read: “Hindi ka Nag-iisa”.
For the stark reality that stared at us during that nightmarish moment under martial law is that we were alone face-to-face with the excessive use of force that the Dictatorship so brutally utilized without compunction and without regard even for the dignity and honor of our Moro Muslim womenfolk. We stood alone in our fight to survive, we were alone when our communities were bombed to kingdom-come, and we were alone when thousands of us died.

In the North, however, it was business as usual. People spent and celebrated their fiestas, Christmases and New Year’s eves oblivious of the bombs that continuously fell on our homes and killed our women and children. In Manila, as in the rest of the country, they sang to the tunes of the hymn of ‘Bagong Lipunan’ praising a dictator who styled himself as the new messiah divined to “make this country great again”, and nodded in silent assent as he made a mockery of human and civil rights and turned freedom into a parody while his ostentatious wife sought to establish a novel synthetic metropolitan culture of the ‘good and beautiful’ against the backdrop of preponderant squatter communities that bared the real ugliness of the face of pervasive squalor and poverty. 

A friend once told Angela Davis, that Afro-American political, anti-war, and human rights activist in the United States in the 60s: "If they come for us in the night, they will come for you in the morning."
And, indeed, "they" came for us "in the night" but our cries for help and pleas for sympathy were ignored by the people in the North. That is, until "they" came for them "in the morning"...
And this is what they're celebrating about at EDSA.

As a postscript to EDSA 1986, the Marcos dictatorship may have long been gone but social inequities continue to batter and scar the landscape of an already fractured Filipino society. The predatory, corrupt and scandalous elites are still ensconced in their positions of power and excessive wealth, periodically taking turns in presiding over a failing Philippine State through a manipulable political process they call ‘electoral democracy’. And from their ranks, recycled and ‘rehabilitated’ remnants of the Dictatorship still aspire to become another Marcos while a military establishment that believes it alone could make or unmake a ‘king’ waits at the sideline for the right would-be dictator or tyrant who could offer the right price.

In the South, the Bangsamoro people remain chained to their colonial captivity. And the skies continue to rain bombs on Mindanao and Sulu. After Marcos, three all-out wars devastated the Bangsamoro homeland, and the now familiar story of Moro civilian displacement repeated itself again and has since gone on ad infinitum and ad nauseam. The victims’ cries are met no longer by a deafening silence but by collective approbation from the people of the North who now see the Moro Muslim as a ‘terrorist’. But in their conventional prejudice, little do the Filipinos who gather annually at EDSA, and in this country for that matter, realize that the Moro Muslim, whose aspiration is simply to be free, has become the convenient scapegoat for the monumental failure of their corrupt ruling elites to save their sinking ship of state.
No EDSA, or any other EDSA for that matter, will save this sinking ship of state from going down into the depths of the sea until the Filipinos discover for themselves the true meaning of justice, especially in respect of the oppressed Bangsamoro in the South and the masses of people all over the Philippine State floundering helplessly and aimlessly in an ocean of social and political injustice. Nor would counter-insurgency measures, no matter how they are well dressed up with so-called reforms such as what they’re currently doing to that “failed experiment” they call the ARMM, will put closure to the Moro Question. 
The Moro Question is, to put it simply, an issue of the colonization of the Bangsamoro homeland. It is not an issue that has invariably deliberately and mischievously been presented by the ruling regimes of the Philippine State as ‘secession’, for our Moro forefathers never willingly and voluntarily acceded to joining the then nascent political entity in 1935 and 1946, let alone in 1898, now called the Philippine Republic. Our homeland was occupied and converted into a colonial territory of the Philippine State with us, Moros, as the colonial subjects.  It is as simple as that. As such, the Moro Question is also a primordial issue of decolonization, of Moro right to self-determination, and, therefore, of Moro liberation.
This, the Filipinos should now know if they are to understand the sovereignty-based conflict in Mindanao and Sulu.

Like a spiritual epiphany, the Filipinos must come to realize by now that the institutionalization and, therefore, the preponderance of justice should not be left alone in the hands of the whimsical ruling elites, who are themselves the source of injustice, but it is a collective mandatory moral obligation of the people that takes precedence over any political or constitutional expediency. Absent that and what EDSA, or the many EDSAs in the pipeline, would merely be churning out is a Joseph Estrada, a Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, or, worse, another Ferdinand Marcos.

This, my friends from the Philippine State, is among the reasons why we cannot join the commemorative celebration of your EDSA People Power Revolution.
This, my friends, should also underscore why we reject and resist full incorporation into the Philippine State by way of integration and assimilation. If Filipino-Bangsamoro relationship is to work, it could only be by way of free association and ‘parity of esteem’; or, if that does not even work, then separation is the ultimate solution. 

Give us, Moros, back our freedom, give us back what is left of our occupied Homeland, give us back our Moro nationhood, and perhaps we will celebrate your EDSA and other national holidays with you.
It’s now or never.
Thank you and wa assalaamo ‘alaykom.       
-end-

Monday, March 19, 2012

Opening statement of Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, during the 26th GPH-MILF Peace Talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 19-21, 2012.

The Clear Path Without Branches

         We are now in the last month of the first quarter of the year 2012, the timeline for signing the comprehensive compact between the MILF and the Government of the Philippines (GPH) which our honorable counterpart from the GPH had boldly claimed sometime in 2011. Honestly, we were fascinated by such boldness, which we know is very much possible if the Aquino administration is really committed to solve the age-old Moro Question and the armed conflict in Mindanao, following his “Matuwid Na Daan” or “Straight Path” policy, which I solemnly hope is the “Right Path”. 

Why I say this is possible in a straight path policy of any just or rightly-guided leader, if we view this policy in the light of the Islamic principles of “Siratal mustaquim”. In the daily prayers of Muslims, they recite the Surah Al-Fatiha, 17 times in five obligatory prayers and at least 17 in optional prayers, which they solemnly ask for guidance to the straight path. This is the first chapter of the Qur'an, which has seven verses that are all prayers for Allah's guidance, and for stressing on His Lordship and Mercy. 

Siratal Mustaquim is the clear path without branches, according to the language of the Qur’an. Hence the Qur’an would describe the honest person as being straight and the wicked person as being crooked, which includes one who does not fulfill promises and commitments made with fellow human beings. 

It is on this premise that I am hopeful that under the administration of President Aquino the Moro Question and the armed conflict in Mindanao will finally be put to rest.  It is also on this premise that I believe our honorable counterpart in the GPH would deal with us in straight-forward manner; meaning, what has been committed, as a product of honest discussion, will be pursued and followed sincerely, including signing it without delay. From it we can move forward with much trust and confidence, as we confront the most contentious issues of the negotiation.

Surely and without doubt, the comprehensive compact will not be signed now or perhaps even in April, despite the claim of the honorable Secretary Teresita “Ging” Deles-Quintos, banking on “miracle” to happen. The greater fear is that we might not even sign it at all if we are not firm on our resolve to push hard in our negotiation. Sad to note, however, that within the first two years of the Aquino administration, we have not signed anything of great consequence that we can show to our people and the world that indeed there is big happening in the current peace negotiation. I am afraid that we might not be as productive as compared to the times of Secretary Silvestre Afable III, Secretary Rodolfo Garcia, and Ambassador Rafael Seguis, notwithstanding the fact that we have a counterpart in the GPH which is led by a brilliant lawyer and a dean of law at that.

Honestly speaking, despite the stark picture of what is really happening in the negotiation, Central Mindanao provinces are dotted with placards and streamers, obviously coming from the military, proclaiming for the imminent coming of peace in Mindanao. While we congratulate the military for this support of peace in Mindanao; in fact, it is also our clamor, we are also perplexed no end, because such excessive building up of public expectation, will have serious backlash if at the end, there will be no signing. I don’t know why the military is in such frenzy for proclaiming that peace is forthcoming in Mindanao. We do not question their motive, but perhaps there is a communication gap between those in charge of the negotiation and those on the ground. I do not want to view it as a deliberate act for some special effects of unknown reason. Unless we succeed in the current negotiation, this one-sided portrayal of the positive side of the negotiation will only create frustration amongst our people and the possible negative backlash is unimaginable.

Up till today, I hope that the Aquino administration is still pursuing the first best option, which is to sign an agreement with the MILF, and the second best option, which is merely to reform the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is not being pursued by the government in replacement of the negotiated political settlement of the Moro Question and the armed conflict in Mindanao. And clearly if the first is the option of the government, then we can expect seriousness in the current peace talks. But if the second is now the option, then it is very easy to see. Expect commitment made to be changed randomly.

Lastly, it is perhaps of interests to you that we share of our historic trip to Rome, Italy from March 5-8 upon the invitation of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which is a Christian community that is officially recognized by the Holy See as a “Church public lay association". It claims 50,000 members in more than 70 countries. It is also recognized by the United Nations within the ECOSOC.

Aside from being fascinated by the grandeur of Rome, we were also struck by the openness of the group for religious dialogues and their willingness to take part in conflict resolutions. They have welcomed us with open arms and they are seriously considering reaching out to the Philippine government and the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the two major players in shaping the direction of this state. This group has a good track record in settlement of conflicts from Africa to Bosnia Herzegovina, and to South America. They played the lead role in the settling of the bloody conflict in Mozambique in Africa where 1,000,000 died of starvation and of the fighting. The peace pact that ended this conflict was signed right at the room where we were received by their key leaders led by its president, Professor Marco Impagliazzo, 47, who is teaching history at the university for Foreigners of Perugia, and is now serving his second term as president. 

From Rome, we proceeded to Catalonia upon the invitation of Mr. Kristian Herbolzheimer of the Conciliation Resources, a member of the International Contact Group (ICG). With our own eyes, we were able to see how former monarchial and later dictatorial Spain has now transformed itself into more federal rather than unitary. Madrid had agreed to grant more and more autonomous powers to the 17 regions especially Catalonia and the Basque Country.  We have also talked to the movers of change in the Catalan political landscape and those who represent the status quo. Throughout our four-day visit, we never felt the stigma of the past and the curse of the 320 Moro-Spanish War in Mindanao. And Madrid, to our surprise, is at peace in allowing the Catalans to pursue their right to identity, language, and for a homeland. But still one of the battle lines of continuous hard bargaining is about the right to tax, which Madrid refuses to budge an inch to Catalan to this day.  

We also had a side trip to Granada where that famous Alhambra Palace of the Moorish King is situated. We saw the grandeur of the palace, the greatness of the architecture, and the impregnable fort where the last battle between the Moors and Catholic army was fought that resulted in the decisive defeat of the first, which ended their almost 800 years rule in Spain. It is an experience of a life-time that brought us back in time, as Atty. Datu Michael Mastura, one ustadz, and I slowly made our way slowly through the crowd of mostly Japanese tourists, to examine every corner and room of the fancied palace.

To the Moros in Mindanao, this side trip is very important. Had not the Moors been defeated in Spain, the Spaniards would not have come to the Philippines and probably the whole of it would have become Muslims, because at the coming of Spain in 1570, Manila and Tondo were firmly under Moro hegemony. There were also many areas in Visayas and Luzon held by Moros especially Batangas, Mindoro, and Pampanga. But these are all water under the bridge. History has it that the unconquered is now at the mercy of the conquered. This is what we are trying to correct in this negotiation: the great imbalance of the totality of relationship between the Philippine state and the Moros of Mindanao.

On this note, I thank everyone in this session hall for lending me his or her ear as we made a rundown of what I believe as the true state of this 15-year old GPH-MILF peace negotiation in Mindanao.

Thank you and good day!
-----------------
Opening statement of Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, during the 26th GPH-MILF Peace Talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 19-21, 2012.