Israeli PM warns of 'end of Israel'

Prime minister Ehud Olmert today raised the spectre of the disintegration of the state of Israel unless a two-state solution with the Palestinians could be reached.

Drawing a parallel with the last days of the apartheid regime in South Africa he warned: "If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (with Palestinians) ... then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."

The remarks were published after Olmert and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, this week agreed at a US-sponsored peace conference to resume negotiations on the creation of a Palestinian state for the first time in seven years.

Israel is sensitive to any comparison to formerly apartheid South Africa, but Olmert has aired such views before. When he was deputy prime minister under Ariel Sharon four years ago, he favoured a withdrawal from most of the territories taken in the 1967 war that would leave Israel with a "maximum" number of Israelis and a "minimum" of Palestinians.

Olmert also warned about the loss of support of the Jewish diaspora once the question became framed in terms of one man, one vote.

"The Jewish organisations, which were our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us," Olmert told Haaretz, "because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents."

Olmert pointed out that he had said similar things in an interview he gave four years ago.

"Since then, I have systematically repeated those positions," he said, adding that people "will say I'm having problems and that's why I'm trying to do [a peace process], but the facts must be dealt with justly."

Jews form a solid majority inside Israel proper, making up roughly 80% of the population of 7 million. However, if the West Bank and Gaza are included, Arabs already comprise nearly half the population of the region.

To ensure that Israel retains its solid Jewish majority, Olmert supports a large withdrawal from the West Bank and parts of east Jerusalem, following Israel's withdrawal in 2005 from Gaza.

Although Olmert and Abbas agreed to restart negotiations with the goal of finalising a deal by the end of 2008, there is much scepticism that these two politically weak leaders can push through an agreement by next year.

Two polls published in Israeli newspapers showed the Israeli public to be hopeful for a solution, but sceptical about their leaders.

The polls, conducted by the Dahaf Institute and Dialog agency, found that less than one in five Israelis believe the Annapolis conference, hosted by George Bush, was a success, and more than 80% of the public thinks the Israeli and Palestinian leaders will not meet their goal of reaching a deal in 2008.

Still, the Dialog poll said 53% of respondents support a final peace deal creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

In his interview with Haaretz, Olmert said the Annapolis conference "met more than we could have defined as the Israeli expectations, but that will not absolve us of the difficulties there will be in the negotiations, which will be difficult, complex, and will require a very great deal of patience and sophistication."

Olmert, said Israel now had a partner in Abbas, albeit a weak partner.

"He is a weak partner, who is not capable, and, as Tony Blair says, has yet to formulate the tools and may not manage to do so," Olmert said.

"But it is my job to do everything so that he receives the tools, and to reach an understanding on the guidelines for an agreement. Annapolis is not a historic turning point, but it is a point that can be of assistance."

A big problem for both Abbas and Olmert is Gaza, which has been under control of Hamas militants since they seized power from Abbas's Fatah faction in June. Hamas has denounced Abbas as a traitor and says he has no right to speak on behalf of the Palestinians.

In the latest violence in Gaza, Israeli planes killed four Hamas fighters in two strikes in the south of the Gaza Strip. An Israeli army spokeswoman said in one incident, planes attacked people wearing military style clothing in an area from which rockets had just been fired towards Israel.

In the second, planes killed two Hamas security men who planted explosives near the fence Israeli forces maintain around the coastal enclave.

Hamas and medical officials said the air strikes were carried out in the Khan Younis area.

There have been frequent clashes between Israel and Hamas militants since they seized power in June. Hamas has been boycotted by the west because it does not recognise Israel and Gaza, with its 1.5 million inhabitants have been isolated economically since the Hamas takeover.

Abbas's police kills HT demonstrator - Palestine

Tuesday, 27 November 2007 In Hebron, 36-year-old Hisham Baradi died in hospital of a gunshot wound after Palestinian police shot him in cold blood. According to reports riot police and other security forces moved in on members of Hizb ut-Tahrir as soon as they left mosques in the cities of Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron aiming to march in demonstrations. The demonstrations were planned against the treacherous Annapolis Conference attended by Abbas and Arab leaders. May Allah (swt) give the brother jannah and give patience to his family and brothers. Truly the victory of Allah will come and it will not be delayed by a single second, with the will of Allah.

we love you ahlu dzimmah..!!

The position of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule (dhimmi) is a widely misunderstood topic. Those wishing to attack Islam and its systems portray Islam’s treatment of the dhimmi as worse than its treatment of animals. Historical incidents where dhimmi suffered persecution at particular times are generalised and quoted out of context in order to back up their claims.Joseph Farah, founder of the WorldNetDaily news site states:Under Islamic Shari’ah law, non-believers – Christians and Jews anyway – are permitted to live as long as they support Islam through their Dhimmi taxes and are willing to accept what amounts to a third- or fourth-class servile existence, always subject to pogroms, false accusations and ill treatment. Dhimmis always live in fear.1Melanie Philips, prominent UK based Zionist author and commentator states:
‘Dhimmi’ is the status of infidels under Islam who are permitted to live in Muslim jurisdictions but only with restrictions as second-class citizens.2To answer this accusation that dhimmi are second-class citizens who will have a miserable existence living in a future Khilafah we need to look at Islam’s view on citizenship and how it applies to non-Muslims.Citizenship in IslamCitizenship in Islam is based on someone permanently living within the lands of the Khilafah regardless of their ethnicity or creed. It is not a requirement for someone to become Muslim and adopt the values of Islam in order to become a citizen of the state. Muslims living outside the Islamic State do not enjoy the rights of citizenship, whereas a non-Muslim living permanently within the Islamic State (dar ul-Islam) does. This is derived from the following hadith.
The Prophet (saw) said: ‘Call them to Islam, and if they agree accept from them and refrain from fighting against them, then call them to move from their land to the land of the Muhajireen (the emigrants), and tell them if they do so, then they will have the rights which the Muhajireen enjoy and they will have duties like the duties upon the Muhajireen.’3 This hadith means if they do not move to the land of the Muhajireen they would not enjoy what the Muhajireen enjoy, i.e. the rights of those who are living in the land of Islam. So this Hadith clearly shows the difference between those who move to the land of the Muhajireen and those who do not move to the land of the Muhajireen. Dar ul-Muhajireen was the land of Islam (Dar ul-Islam) at the time of the Prophet (saw), and all other lands were Dar ul-Kufr.4The Islamic state is forbidden from discriminating between citizens on the basis of race, creed, colour or anything else. In origin all the rules of Islam apply equally to Muslims and non-Muslims. The Islamic scholars have agreed, especially the scholars of Usul (foundations), that the divine rules are addressed to every sane person able to understand the speech, whether he is Muslim or not, male or female.5However, there are exceptions to this. If the Shari’ah rule is dependent on belief in Islam such as praying salah or giving the zakat tax then it applies only to Muslims. These exceptions are not discriminatory rules as some have claimed, but take in to account the beliefs and values of the citizen so as not to cause oppression to them. They in no way detract from being equal citizens. Categories of non-Muslims in the KhilafahThere are four main categories of non-Muslims in the Khilafah.

These are:1. Mu’ahid2. Must’amin3. Ambassadors, diplomats, consuls and envoys4. DhimmiThe Mu’ahid is a citizen of a foreign state with which the Khilafah has a treaty. The citizens of this state (mu’ahideen) can enter the Khilafah without a passport or visa if this is reciprocated to the citizens of the Khilafah.6The Must’amin is a citizen of a foreign state with which the Khilafah has no treaty. These states are the imperialistic states such as Britain, America, Russia and France. The citizens of these states can enter the Khilafah but only with a passport and valid visa. Once they have received a valid visa and enter the state they are termed Must’amin.7If the Mu’ahid or Must’amin stays for more than one year within the Khilafah then their stay is considered permanent and they are required to pay the jizya (head tax) and will become dhimmi.8When discussing the rights and responsibilities of the dhimmi in this article these for the most part apply equally to both the Mu’ahid and the Must’amin. The exceptions are in the specific terms of the treaties and visa applications adopted by the Khaleefah.The Ambassadors, diplomats, consuls and envoys from the foreign states have diplomatic immunity and the rules of Islam do not apply on them.9The DhimmiDhimmi are those citizens of the Khilafah that hold different beliefs and values to the ideology of the state i.e. Islam. The word dhimmi is derived from the Arabic word dhimmah, which means pledge or covenant (‘ahd).10The state makes a pledge to treat the dhimmi in accordance with the specific terms of the peace treaty made with them (if applicable) and not to interfere in their beliefs, worships and those actions that contradict Islam but were permitted to the dhimmi by the Messenger of Allah (saw) such as drinking alcohol. In all other areas they are viewed and treated in the same way as Muslims unless belief in Islam is a condition for the action.There are many ahadith ordering good treatment of the dhimmi and not abusing them or treating them as second-class citizens.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “He who harms a person under covenant, or charged him more than he can, I will argue against him on the Day of Judgement.”11
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “He who hurts a dhimmi hurts me, and he who hurts me annoys Allah.”

Conclusion

The dhimmi are citizens of the Khilafah and enjoy all the rights of citizenship such as protection, guaranteed living and fair treatment. They also enjoy the right of being treated with kindness, leniency, justice and clemency. They can join the Islamic armed forces and fight alongside the Muslims if they choose to do so, but they are not obliged to fight as the Muslims are. They are viewed by the ruler and the judge in the same light as the Muslims are viewed without any discrimination in terms of managing their affairs and when implementing the rules of transactions (mu’amilat) and the penal code (hudud) upon them. Therefore, the dhimmi enjoys all the rights, equally and exactly as those enjoyed by the Muslims and is in no way classed as a second class citizen.50