TFF global posts 2018

    By Farhang Jahanpour September 17, 2018   1. The western demonization of Islam We have often heard about Osama bin-Laden’s outrageous remarks about the West (if not Christianity), but we often seem to ignore the remarks made by some influential writers, thinkers and politicians in the West about Islam, which are as harsh and outrageous to Muslims as the remarks of Muslim fanatics seem to us. Here are just a few examples: Influential columnist Ann Coulter wrote: “We should invade [Muslim] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” See National Review Online, September 13, 2001. It seems that the NRO no longer has her column on its website but here is how the column made NRO drop her as a columnist). And the quotation inside this article. And here). Senator Clarence Saxby Chambliss, former chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland security, in a...

    By Farhang Jahanpour September 17, 2018 1. Islam as the new post-Cold War enemy The journalistic attitudes towards Islam that we referred to above have their counterparts in the academic writing on the Middle East and Islam. In recent years there have been many academic writings portraying Islam as the new enemy of the West. After the end of the Cold War, the increasing intensity of this historical antagonism has again emerged by portraying Muslims as inherently different from Western people. Almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many scholars started writing about a new era of hostility between Islam and the West, and Muslims have assumed a prominence on the security agenda that they have not held since before the establishment of the modern European states system. For instance, Barry Buzan, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and...

In examining the future, we must look to the past. As we watch the media today, we are spoon fed more and more propaganda and fear of the unknown, that we should be afraid of the unknown and have full faith that our government is keeping us safe from the unknown. But by looking at media today, those of us who are old enough will be reminded of the era of Cold War news articles, the hysteria of how the Russians would invade and how we should duck and cover under tables in our kitchens for the ensuing nuclear war. Under this mass hysteria, all Western governments were convinced that we should join Western allies to fight the unknown evil that lies to the east. Later through my travels in Russia during the height of the Cold War with a peace delegation, we were shocked by the poverty of the...

From L to R – Jared Kushner, senior adviser to Trump; David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel; Ron Dermer, Israeli Ambassador to US; Jason Dov Greenblatt, Trump special aide • You didn’t have to be a ‘never Trump’ loyalist to have qualms about proposing to bring peace to Palestinians and Jews by creating conditions that would produce “The Deal of the Century.” And let’s be fair, if the game of nations is now played according to the rules of Madison Avenue, the phrase was a winner despite being a loser if evaluated from a problem-solving perspective. Even in the present degraded political atmosphere, to bet on an advertising slogan as a substitute for healing ideas may be a good formula for ensuring a large audience for a reality TV episode, but it is a cruel evasion when it comes to addressing the daily ordeal of the Palestinian people consigned to...

    By Farhang Jahanpour September 12, 2018   1. The rise of Fascism and Totalitarianism Just over 100 years ago, Britain, France, Germany and Russia ruled half of the world – most of Europe, all of Africa, South Asia, most of Southeast Asia, and most of the Pacific region. They dominated China and were of course influential everywhere else. During the past century, including the two devastating World Wars when the West resorted to mechanised butchery and industrialised slaughter, more than 170 million people, mainly civilians, were killed. The West introduced unprecedented levels of totalitarianism and oppression by inventing and ruling through Communism, Fascism, Nazism, slavery and apartheid. Some six million Jews perished as the result of the Holocaust, in the same way that European adventurers and settlers had carried out the genocide of tens of millions of native populations of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. After the end...

The Belt and Road Initiative has turned 5 years. On September 7, 2013, at the Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, President Xi Jinping of China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This initiative – which has attracted a lot of attention from all over the world – was launched to “promote the economic prosperity of the countries, strengthen mutual learning between different civilizations and promoting world peace and development.” The historical roots, of course, is the ancient Silk Road from China through Eurasia to Europe and Africa. At the time of the mentioned speech, 60+ countries were on the list. Now, 5 years later and as the initiative gains momentum, there are more than 100 countries involved in various ways and roles. And the “Silk Roads” now points in all directions, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, even the USA. The BRI has become a global force – a civilian...

In 1981 on the editorial page of the New York Times, I wrote a column showing that the mass atrocities against the Indian population of Guatemala were carried out under the direct orders of the then president, Fernando Lucas Garcia. His former vice-president, Francisco Villagran Kramer, had given me information that was incontrovertible evidence of the murders. I also showed how close was the relationship, financially and militarily, between the Guatemalan government and President Ronald Reagan’s government. At the time Regan was considered to be the “Teflon President”. No scandal stuck to him. Certainly not the evidence of a column in the New York Times. The reaction in Washington was zero. A brief while later, Amnesty International published a long report documenting an act of genocide. After a number of changes of government in Guatemala, President Efrain Rios Montt came to power. Reagan’s assistant secretary of state for human rights,...

  Today marks the 17th anniversary of what could be called the most counter-productive, if not stupid, war in modern history: The Global War On Terror, GWOT. Today that war is much much more dangerous to the world and its future than the terrorists it allegedly aims to hunt down. And it has caused thousands of times more suffering, death and destruction than September 11 did. As yu’ll see below – the image above and below – the U.S. has been able to market itself as the innocent victim – which it isn’t. While countries and peoples who have been innocent victims and to a much larger extent do not have similar resources and control over the media narratives told worldwide. We’ve heard a lot about “9/11” and that is only right, it was a terrible crime. But why don’t you remember, equally well at least, “10/7” (US-led war on Afghanistan 2001)...

An interview with PressTV about what has happened in Sweden and – at least some – reasons why. Apologies for the bad sound quality which was beyond our control. I do not feel good about being that close to John Bolton (above), but what can I do? 🙂      

    By Farhang Jahanpour September 6, 2018   1. The US Iran policy aims at nothing but conflict-building followed by economic, political and military violence From all the remarks made by President Donald Trump and his senior officials, it is clear that the United States is trying to manufacture another regime change in the Middle East, this time in Iran. It does so by making use of the tried and tested tactic of demonising Iranian rulers and the Iranian people and by finding false pretences and pretexts for implementing their destructive goals. We have already had an inkling of these tactics by Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and his allegation that Iran has not been abiding by the terms of that deal, despite clear evidence of Iranian compliance provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is in charge of inspecting and certifying Iran’s compliance. In 11...

  Concerning Sweden, perhaps you need a reality check? If judged by the opinion polls, Sunday could mark the end of an epoch in Sweden’s contemporary history. Not that long ago Sweden was talked about around the world for its progressive social policies, the welfare state, gender equality, freedom, justice, openness to refugees and for its neutrality, mediation in international conflicts, for its anti-nuclearism, anti-NATO, anti-war (the US in Vietnam in particular). It had a disarmament ambassador and it spearheaded visionary policies such as the Palme Commission’s common security and the Inga Thorsson (disarmament minister) Report on how to convert military industries to civilian for the UN. The Social Democratic party was a real internationalist party with others down through Europe and with a strong emphasis on equidistance to the Soviet Union and the U.S. and it had leaders who were clearly operating within the tradition of human socialism and international solidarity. Of course,...

The arrival in Sweden of 163,000 refugees, mainly Syrians, in 2015 – making for a higher proportion of Sweden’s population than almost any other European country – has been used by the far right to drum up broader fears about immigration. A recent spate of shootings, grenade attacks and burnt-out cars has made many Swedes feel afraid of what is going on. This is despite international surveys showing it’s the best nation at everything from economic competitiveness to doing good for humanity to achieving happiness. Sweden, a country of 10m people, rebounded stronger from the financial crisis than any other big western country, faster even than the US, and its economy has been solid ever since, benefiting from historically strong public finances and low government debt. The economy ploughs ahead, unemployment is low, having escaped relatively unscathed from the Great Recession. One would assume, since in democracies economic wellbeing is...