The leader of the Islamic Revolution has once again addressed western youth, who either for the most part are misinformed about Islam because of the bias in media and society in favour of Israel and Zionism, or are Muslim but living in a climate of Islamophobia and in desperation have drifted to the militant jihadist movement which began in Afghanistan in 1979 with US blessing, and is now a permanent feature of world politics. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls on them to "reconsider the threat of terrorism in the world, its roots and to find a deep insight into Islam."

The tone of the Ayatollah's reflections is calm and friendly, the content intelligent and at the same time heartfelt. You can feel his spirit of universal love and his anguish at the suffering that terrorism brings. It is sad to note that western media and politicians have an obsession against Iran, despite Iran's constant reaching out and attempts to help the West fight terrorism. The reasons, of course, are Iran's staunch support for Palestine and its refusal to submit to the dictates of imperialism. Both unforgivable 'sins'.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently held a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the squashing of UN resolution 3379, equating Zionism with racism. It was passed in 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions). The festive event this year was attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry and head of the Israeli Labour Party and Zionist Union Isaac Herzog, son of Chaim Herzog, president of Israel from 1983 to 1993, and star of the 1975 UN session.

The 1975 vote took place approximately one year after resolution 3237 granted the PLO “observer status”, following Yasser Arafat’s “olive branch” speech to the General Assembly in November 1974. It succeeded only because the Soviet Union and its allies were there to support the Arab and Islamic majority countries.

http://en.mehrnews.com/news/110786/Hajj-tragedies-has-to-be-dealt-with-bravely-openly

1/ Considering the recent Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque and its implementation of strict security measures in the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem), what do you see as the purpose of Israel?

This week, Israeli snipers on the roof of the holy site provoked demonstrations by Palestinians. At least 36 Palestinians were injured in clashes on Tuesday. Yousef Mukhaimar, the head of the Al-Aqsa worshipper movement Mourabitoun said that Muslim Palestinians were "prohibited from entering the mosque to pray, while Israeli settlers are allowed to enter the mosque and roam around freely under police protection. The Israelis are trying to establish a precedent by dividing Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into sections and time segments, so they can give Israeli settlers access to our mosque," Mourabitoun activist Abasi said. "We will never agree to such plan because it is obvious that the Israelis are trying to take it over piecemeal."

Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine

1/ Why has Saudi Arabia―instead of helping Palestinian people and solving regional problem―allied with Israel and supported terrorist groups in the region?

EW: To understand this requires looking at the background to Saudi reality today, which is the subject of my book Islamic Resistance to Imperialism. The idea behind the Saudi-Pakistani-US understanding that led to the Afghan collapse in the 1990s and on to 9/11 was/is a Saudi-led hegemony in the Muslim world (acceptable to the US), where Pakistan would preside in Central Asia. What are the results of a century of Islamic rule in Saudi Arabia, and 70 years in Pakistan? In short, precious little as a guide to other Muslim nations.

Saudi Arabia (28 million), founded in 1932, and the Gulf states (10 million), which achieved ‘independence’ in the 1970s, claim to be the first countries in recent times to be governed by Islamic principles, at the same time satisfying the demands of empire to keep the Muslim world operating within the imperial order.