by Martin Iqbal.
The ‘New Atheists’, who claim to be at the cutting edge of critical, independent thought, have adopted the false dogma of 9/11 as their religion.
I want to start out this piece by making a couple of things clear about my beliefs.  I do not suggest for a millisecond that readers should care; there’s nothing more nauseating than a person who trumpets their personal beliefs at any given opportunity. (Sadly in the case of many atheists, this is often done in the pursuit of smugly asserting one’s perceived intellectual …

by Martin Iqbal.
Updated 11 February 2013 with new additions: democracy, dictator, humanitarian intervention, no-fly zone.
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink. In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language …

by Martin Iqbal.
Henrique Capriles Radonski – leader of the Venezuelan opposition – vows to downgrade ties with Iran and cut subsidised oil to Cuba and Nicaragua, should he get into power. What is more, his coalition has links to Israel, and both of his parents are Jewish, though he claims to be a ‘fervent Catholic’.
At a rally in June 2010, much to the disdain of the American Jewish Committee which dismissed the accusations as ‘baseless’,(1) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez publicly stated that Israel is funding the Venezuelan opposition:

An inspection of …

by Martin Iqbal.
Amid Internet and telephone network outages in Syria, US-trained opposition activists use US-supplied satellite phones to contact Google & Twitter’s ‘Speak2Tweet‘ service. Despite these efforts, the service seems so far to be a resounding failure.
Internet and telecommunications networks have been failing across Syria, leading some including Tony Cartalucci to speculate that NATO may be preparing a psychological warfare operation(1) to bolster the flagging unconventional war against Syria.
Recent developments add weight to this theory. There are now reports(2) that Google and Twitter have re-launched their ‘Speak2Tweet’(3) service …

by Martin Iqbal.
Amid Israel’s ongoing pounding of Gaza today, social networking sites were ablaze with feverish chatter both congratulating and condemning Hamas for supposedly hitting Jerusalem with one of its rockets.
On top of this, pro-Israel media outlets have wasted no time in capitalising on the opportunity. Right-wing Israeli outlet Ynet News carries the headline,(1) ‘Hamas fires first rockets at Jerusalem‘.
The ultra-Zionist BBC follows suit:(2) ‘Gaza conflict: Militant rocket targets Jerusalem‘.
Neither of them matches The Times of Israel though, which boasts,(3) ‘‘Surprise’ rocket fire at Jerusalem shows Hamas flailing but …

by Martin Iqbal.
Today at approximately 12:30pm Israeli forces put down a Gaza protest at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. Several youths were abducted by the occupying forces, and women were shoved to the ground by soldiers and border police.
The first video is filmed looking down on Damascus Gate from the outside, and shows a number of youths being attacked and taken away by Israeli forces.

(Video: 16 November, 2012. Martin Iqbal)
I filmed the following video moments later on Sultan Suleiman Street immediately north of the gate, and it shows a Palestinian …

by Martin Iqbal.
Jewish ‘Israeli’ refusenik Moriel Rothman receives widespread media attention as Palestinian prisoner Ayman Sharawna, facing imminent death on hunger and water strike, is met with silence. Should we even be celebrating settler-colonialists who refuse to enlist?
“I, like many in the American Jewish community, am a Zionist“ ~ Moriel Rothman.
Recently, ‘Israeli’ refusenik Moriel Rothman was detained in ‘Israeli’ prison for refusing to enlist in the ‘Israeli’ Occupation Army. The individual action of refusing to enlist in the IOF is a commendable step. However with regards to …

by Martin Iqbal.
On Sunday 5 August a number of unidentified militants carried out an attack in the Egyptian Sinai in which several Egyptian soldiers were killed, and Israel’s border was penetrated. After Iftar as the Egyptian Muslims were breaking their fast, unknown militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers and stole an Egyptian armoured vehicle. Using a pick-up truck packed with explosives, the militants breached the Egypt-Israel border at the ‘Kerem Shalom’ crossing and subsequently drove approximately one mile into Israel using the armoured vehicle they had commandeered.
This event brings …

by Martin Iqbal.
A walk through occupied Al Khalil (Hebron) offers a shocking and heartbreaking insight into the struggle of the oppressed souls of one of Palestine’s most important cities. Day by day, Al Khalil is becoming a ghost town as the indigenous Palestinians are forced out through a wickedly evil campaign of terrorism, intimidation, and oppression.
Israel’s occupation is multi-faceted, one which attacks the Palestinians’ freedom, culture, economy, and way of life, as well as their very survival in ways which will shock and perturb any person who harbours even …

by Martin Iqbal.
There are two kinds of people in this world.
The first seeks knowledge, while the second seeks gratification.
The first trembles with anger when injustice is done to others; the second is numb and unconcerned.
The first recognises their duty to speak out, while the second dismisses injustice as being out of their hands or simply ‘the way it is’.
The first is loyal and loving to their human & non-human brothers and sisters, while the second is loyal to their nation.
The first rejects dogma and thinks independently; the second blindly respects …