Saleem's Post

  While the Western world is indifferent to Israel’s carnage of the Palestinian people in Gaza, one is amazed at how sensitive the Americans and the Europeans are even to animal rights! How do we explain these double standards, this hypocrisy? The United States of America, the “World’s most powerful democracy”, and “Leader of the Free World”, was founded on the concept of “Escape from Old World Tyranny” - The American colonies declared their independence from a British monarchy that the Founding Fathers deemed “tyrannical,”. The message inscribed on the Statue of Liberty reads:  Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!  The “Pilgrims" were the ordinary English men and women who made the famous 1620 voyage aboard the ship Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony. Ironically, the emancipation of these ru...

  The recent Iran-Israel spat started with Israel’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, a violation of diplomatic immunity under international law. The Iran-Israel rivalry is grounded in ancient territorial claims and counter-claims. According to the Old Testament, the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II occupied the Kingdom of Judah between 597 and 586 BCE and destroyed the temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem. The last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was forced to watch his sons put to death, then his own eyes were gouged out and he was exiled to Babylon (modern Iraq). Several decades later, in 538 BCE, the Jews in Babylon were allowed by Cyrus the Great to return to their ancestral homeland. Initially, around 50,000 Jews returned to the Land of Judah following the decree of Cyrus as described in Ezra’s Book, whereas most remained in Babylon.  Besides considering itself as a benefactor of Jews, Iran also claims, on sectarian grounds, t...

  Peter the Great died fifty-one years before the birth of the United States. In his much-talked-about will- Le testament de Pierre le Grand , Peter advised his successors:  “Approach as near as possible to Constantinople and India. Whoever governs there will be the true sovereign of the world. Consequently, excite continual wars, not only in Turkey, but also in Persia and, in the decadence of Persia, penetrate through the Persian Gulf as far as India”. When Peter the Great referred to India, he had in mind, like Alexander the Great and the ancient Greeks, the land now known as Pakistan.  His troops advanced into Punjab, where they were confronted by Porus, the region’s king. Alexander defeated Porus and the Pauravas during the Battle of Hydaspes (Modern Jhelum, 127 km from Islamabad-Pakistan’s capital) but that engagement was possibly the Macedonians' most costly battle. Alexander continued his eastward march. His troops, increasingly exhausted, homesick, and...