Boko Haram: Just another US terrorist brand to
suppress Islamic movement in Nigeria
- Dec 19, 2015
By Vanessa
Beeley*
According to the Nigerian Government forces, a traffic
infringement justifies the massacre of over 1000 Muslims who were performing
the religious ceremony of ushering in the new month of Maulud, honouring
the birth of the Prophet Mohammed of Islam [pbuh].
In a statement on Sunday the army said: “The
Nigerian Constitution guarantees the rights of any group of persons and Sheikh
El Zakzaky’s followers to hold a peaceful march or procession unhindered, but
it also guarantees other people’s rights of way on public highways.”
Claims of an attempted assassination of the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai or even of the alleged attacks by the Islamic
sect on the military convoy are rendered questionable by the sheer lack of
reported casualties on the military side and the shockingly disproportionate
loss of life and bloodshed among the Islamic Sect supporters and leaders.
If indeed, this were a simple fracas over “right of
way on a public highway” which resulted in the shooting of unarmed Muslims, why
then did the same Nigerian government armed forces attack Hussainiyah, the
sect’s headquarters later the same evening, hours after the initial clashes?
Why did they deliberately target high ranking members of the
Shi’ite Islamic movement and execute Hamad Zakaky, son of the movement leader
Sheikh Ebrahim Zakzaky. Why did they attack and wound the Sheikh’s wife,
Zeenat? Why did they shoot the Sheikh himself, four times in his hands,
publicly humiliate and arrest him? Why, if this was not a premediated act of
aggression and suppression, had the Army ensured the presence of camera teams
at both attacks and why were women and children not spared the murderous hail
of bullets?
These are all questions that the mainstream media
should be asking, yet this massacre has been swept under the carpet of
indifference by Western media.
Sheikh Ebrahim Zakzaky is a man of peace, unity and
vision. These qualities alone represent a threat to the hegemony and
neo-colonialist strategy of the Axis of Empire in Africa and would justify the
repeated attempts to suppress and inhibit the growth of his Shia Muslim
movement and his popular, unifying influence that transcended the borders of
Nigeria and was taking root in many countries on the continent.
To more fully understand this violent targeting of the
Sheikh and the Islamic Movement, we must take into consideration, both the
historical and more recent influences upon Nigeria.
China has been an evolving partnership in Nigeria,
investing heavily in the development of infrastructure and fixed assets,
refineries and factories. In a role diametrically opposed to the
traditional plundering partnerships of the US and other neo-colonialists with
sovereign nations, China contrarily seems to have a genuinely vested interest
in the stability of Nigeria to support a mutually beneficial economic and trade
relationship reliant upon the growth and profitability of Nigeria itself.
This concept adopted by China of a symbiotic expansion
& growth, is an anathema to the US neo-colonialism in the region, and
particularly in Nigeria. The presence of China in a country so abundant
in oil, uranium, diamond, mineral & timber resources is an acute thorn in
the side of the US carpetbaggers who have perceived the Continent’s largest
economy & oil producer to be their bread basket and theirs alone.
It is logical, rational and reasonable to speculate
that Boko Haram is effectively another terrorist trade name, brought into
existence, to destabilize a region that is daring to jailbreak from US
colonialism and to explore alternative bi-lateral trade pathways that deviate
from the US regional “road maps”.
Boko Haram’s presence, has a threefold purpose:
- It
successfully elevates the Nigerian army to defender of the “meek” against
the “terror” threat and provides cover for any violent opposition
suppression.
- It
gives the US justification for “boots on the ground”, military support for
anti Boko Haram aka pro US factions, and the ubiquitous drone
strikes against the alleged “terror” strongholds, a devastating
strategy already observed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen to name a
few.
- It
ensures the fragmentation, sectarian division, and fracturing of unity and
a state of perpetual chaos which will seismically derail China’s
investment in Nigeria’s physical and economic infrastructure essential to
their US exclusive growth.
Sheikh Zakzaky had alluded to this very terror
“patent” in his reaction to the suicide bomb attack on the Shia Arba’een
procession in Kano on the 27th November 2015. Over 24 died and many were
injured in further violent targeting of the minority Shia community in
Nigeria.
“We know the names of the contractors and those
contracted to commit the massacre, their identity is not hidden from us.
Therefore we cannot be cowed by an imaginary Boko Haram tale, let them tell it
to the fools and ignorant. They should know that they are dealing with those
with foresight, wisdom and intelligence, and above all with the real religion”.
This statement struck at the very heart of the
US/NATO, Israeli and GCC strategy in Nigeria and threatened to undermine their
architecture of “terror” foundations. The Sheikh made it clear that Boko
Haram were none other than gangs of mercenaries, hired contractual killers,
being unleashed to foment sectarian violence and an atmosphere of fear and
division where only US appointed, backed and controlled “saviours” would emerge
victorious.
When we consider the sheer numbers of gangs and rival
gangs, extremist factions and sects emerging inorganically and globally, we can
begin to connect the dots. All have as their purpose, the sowing and reaping of
rapacious violence, the construct of division, the provocation of turmoil, the
incitement of hatred and fear. All are posing as the enemies of Imperialism
whilst serving Imperialist agendas. All fulfil roles of humanity- averse
abomination and simultaneous US alliance proxy forces percolating from one
target region to the next.
Grey Wolves, FSA, ISIS, DAESH, Al Qaeda, Khorasan,
AQAP, Jabhat al Nusra and Boko Haram [to name a few], are they all nothing more
than trade names, successfully managed brand images, logos and IDs all
emanating from the US/NATO, Israel and Gulf State holders of the patent on
terror and their associated marketing agents and concept creators?
Sheikh Ebrahim Zakzaky also challenges another
malevolent bastion of Nigeria’s landscape, the powerful pro- Israel lobby whose
growth and expansion in Nigeria had been hugely facilitated by former President
and Christian Zionist, Goodluck Johnathan. Nigeria is now home to
Africa’s largest Israeli Jewish community [15, 000 in 2014].
The Sheikh is a steadfast and vociferous opponent of the
illegal state of Israel and an uncompromising defender of freedom for
Palestine, and the right to return for Palestinians living in Diaspora since
the 1948 Nakba. His son Hamad, who was reportedly murdered during the 12/12
attacks had been with us at the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine 3rd
Annual Conference being held in Beirut and had only left us on the 11th
December, one day before he was to be targeted by the pro-Israel Government
forces.
Hamad’s final recorded speech before his untimely
death had been one that supported and celebrated the Al Quds Day rallies and
protests particularly in Nigeria and Pakistan where lives have been routinely
lost in the battle to honour and protect the core identity of the Palestinian
struggle, Al Quds. Hamad had, himself, lost his three brothers, Ahmed, Hamid
and Mahmood during one such rally in 2014 when hundreds of the Islamic Movement
supporters were also mown down during another Nigerian army attack on unarmed
solidarity demonstrators for the Palestinian cause.
“I would like to give a message to Pakistan’s brave
nation, especially to those families who have sacrificed the lives of their
loved ones and to those whose loved ones were martyred in Quetta during
Al-Quds’ rally. I am proud that my brothers were martyred in Al-Quds’ rally and
they gave their lives for supporting Palestinians”.
These were Hamad’s last words to the world before the
12/12 bloodbath in Nigeria stripped one more son from the family of Sheikh
Ebrahim Zakzaky, Hamad gave his young life in the service of peace &
freedom. A life that was unrecognised by Western or even Palestinian
media on the day he died.
Paul Larudee of Free Palestine had this to say about a
young man who impressed all who met him at the Beirut conference with his quiet
humility and unassuming humanity:
“Such a sweet and intelligent young man, very quiet
and unassuming. Made me want to know him better.
According to him Boko Haram is just another group of
terrorist thugs, thriving like ISIS through infusions of money and arms from
both outside and inside Nigeria. Our tax dollars at work. Why does
the greatest evil always seem to rise to the top of our societies, while the
poor and the meek are always ready to help others? Is evil the only way
to rise to a position of strength?”
Into this maelstrom of lawless and Machiavellian
meddling in Nigeria we can add one final component without which the neo-colonialist
frontlines would not be complete: the Saudi Wahhabi agents of Islamic “change”
who are the subterranean source of Muslim extremism and religious
fanaticism; the funders and suppliers of the brand name proxy forces,
deployed to whip up the “terror” frenzy wherever it is required to destabilize
or unhinge unity that may jeopardize Empire’s intent.
With ultimate irony, it is Riyadh that is self-
appointed to combat the terrorism created in its image, by forming a coalition
of 34 predominantly Muslim nations, Nigeria included, with the predictable
exclusion of Iran, Syria and Iraq all of whom are involved in battling the
Saudi NATO sourced terror hordes on the ground.
In direct contrast with this deliberate policy of
divide and conquer, Sheikh Ebrahim Zakzaky is a man of religious respect
and tolerance, he embraces Christians, Sunnis and Sufis alike despite his Shia
centric movement and its ties with Tehran, which naturally represents an
additional and perceived monumental threat to US/NATO and Saudi/Israeli
regional hegemony.
The Islamic Movement is also renowned for its
reformist policies, prioritizing education and establishing Islamic schools
incorporating secular subjects in addition to Quranic teaching. Hospitals
and health clinics have been set up where care is free for those without the
means to pay for it. The Sheikh has deterred his supporters from shedding
their own blood to commemorate the shedding of Imam Hussein’s blood and
redirected them to donate this blood to local hospitals, thus saving lives in
memory of their beloved Imam Hussein.
The Western media silence over the Zaria massacre is
indicative of their collusion in this mass killing of innocents and proof of
the role they play in exacerbating global sectarian division at the behest of
their Washington, Tel Aviv and Saudi donors and backers.
The initial silence of the Palestinian community, the
media, the NGOs, the solidarity organisations is less expected and more
worrying given the Islamic Movement’s steadfast support of the Palestinian
cause and opposition to the illegal State of Israel.
This is a missed opportunity for the unity of peoples
suffering from the same symptoms of neo colonialism, regardless of creed, sect
or religion. Al Quds represents the identity, not only of Palestinians
but of the entire Arab world. Those who defend it from Israeli occupation are
those who are enduring their own form of occupation by the patented terror
armies: Nigeria, Pakistan, Yemen, and Syria. As these nations unite behind
Palestine to prise loose Israel’s jaws from the third most sacred site for the
Muslim Ummah, Palestine is needed to unite behind those who give their lives
for Palestine and thus for Humanity. It is this unity that will resolve
the ancient theological disputes that are permitting the externally induced
sectarian fault lines to widen and deepen.
We live in a world where those who are honoured are
the sowers of discord and the reapers of mayhem, the state sponsored agents of
chaos. We no longer honour the true heroes, we honour an illusion called
power and greed. The state media apparatuses serve only to keep historic
Fitna (sedition) wounds festering and the “NGO complex” pied piper plays the
tune of stake-holding in human suffering, created in advance by the Empire’s
composers of death.
Leaders, visionaries, like Sheikh Ebrahim
Zakzaky show us the way to a new world, one that is driven by justice and
progress, dependent upon compassion, communication and unification. They show
us that courage, universal respect & humility is needed to evade the
dystopian future that is being forced upon us by the ruling elite. It is these
men of integrity who resist corruption and maintain their morals and
fundamental principles despite their own personal suffering and loss, that we
should honour and aspire to emulate.
“Reason with this: Who is carrying out senseless
killings in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon? They are the same
people carrying out attacks here, and we know them. We cannot be cowed” ~
Sheikh Ebrahim Zakzaky.
END.
Thanks to:
Dan Glazebrook: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/323656-deadliest-terror-boko-haram/
21st Century Wire: http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/12/14/gladio-global-gangs-and-counter-gangs-in-europe-ireland-iraq-and-now-in-syria/
Elbinawi.wordpress.com: https://elbinawi.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/why-they-targeted-sheikh-zakzaky/
Vanessa Beeley is a photographer, writer, peace activist and
volunteer with the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine. She lived in
Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defence and again in 2013. In 2014 she
established the Gaza Smile Project to raise funds for children in Gaza. Since
2011, Vanessa has spent most of her time in the Middle East . She was
recently invited to be on the steering committee of the Syria Solidarity
Movement.
The views, opinions and positions expressed on Op-Ed
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions
or positions of Khamenei.ir .
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