May 12, 2006

Neo-CONNED News recently conducted an interview with Ibrahim Ebeid, an Editor with the Arab website, Al-Moharer.net.  The interesting site has frequently been the primary source of statements from leading Iraqi government figures such as Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, and Taha Ramadan since their imprisonment. We took the opportunity to seek his opinion on matters rarely discussed in the mainstream media, whatever its political color, and to get his thoughts as someone who speaks with some authority from the "other side of the fence."

Ibrahim Ebeid, could you tell us something about your background?

I was born in Palestine in 1935. I spent my childhood in the city of Jaffa until May 1948 when we were forced to leave under the guns of the Zionist gangs while Palestine was still under the British Mandate. I have lived and seen the tragedy of Palestine folding. These bitter events shaped my life and I became activist for the Palestinian cause as the central focal point of the Arab struggle. I am an Arab nationalist who believes in the liberation of historic Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. I believe in the unification of the Arab Nation and this must be achieved through continuous struggle. I was a member of the PLO offices in New York at the United Nations in the early Seventies.

You are involved with Al-Moharer - which means what in English? What are the aims of the site; what role do you play in it; and how influential do you think you are in the English-speaking and Arabic-speaking worlds?

I joined Al-Moharer in 1997 and became the Co-Editor, in charge of the English Section.

Al-Moharer means the "Liberator" or the "Editor"; both meanings are valid and important. The English Section is dedicated to enlightening the world about the justness of the Arab cause, and to clear up the distortion that clouds the minds of too many people about our struggle against Western Imperialism and Zionism. Al-Moharer is a Pan-Arab weekly publication and it is read by a large audience in the Arab Homeland and by Arabs who live across the World.

The most urgent matter now for  us is that of Palestine and Iraq where the neo-cons and Zionists are launching a vicious criminal war against us to erase our existence as a people and as a civilization.

Our efforts are very humble. We are dedicated individuals and we are volunteers, but the result is tremendous and rewarding. Many people, educational institutions and organizations provide us with positive feedback, whilst the enemies of humanity send us nasty letters. Our readers are in the millions from around the World.

We have to develop the English and French Sections. The Arabic one has the best writers from every corner of the Arab World. Our articles are being translated to several languages and being published on several websites and in newspapers around the world.

There are a good number of sites on the web which are against the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq. What appears to distinguish you from most of them is that you take a strongly pro-Ba'ath Party, pro-Saddam Hussein line. Why is this?

As I mentioned before, Al-Moharer is a Pan-Arab publication, most of the writers are Arab Nationalists, who are committed to the principles of Liberation and Unity.

We feel for the Baath, because the Baath is an Arab Nationalist movement which considers the Arab people are one,  and that the Arab countries must be reunited in order to be free and independent. Here we meet and we share the same principles.

The Arab homeland was divided and ripped apart by the Western powers, mainly Britain and France after the First World War, by the infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement. A few years later the same Imperialist powers created the mini-Arab states and Emirates and installed kings, Emirs and rulers that did not, and do not, represent the people’s desire for freedom and independence. The Arab Baath Party and Saddam Hussein, when they were in power in Iraq, represented all the ambitions and hopes of the Arab Nation for Freedom, Unity and Social Justice. For this genuine reason we support them.

Iraq now is occupied and we feel that Iraqis have the legitimate right to resist the occupation. The Baath Party is the leader of the Resistance that will liberate it from the Anglo-Saxon Zionist occupation. We feel that the liberation of Iraq will be achieved very soon and a very progressive leadership will be born that will lead the Arabs to liberate historic Palestine. As a result Arab Unity will be closer to being realized.

Yes indeed we support Saddam Hussein because he is the legitimate President. He is a prisoner of war and those who are living in four square miles - the so-called "Green Zone" - are both traitors and illegitimate because they are the puppets and agents of the occupiers. In no way do they represent the people of Iraq or our ambitions...

Saddam Hussein represents the hope for freedom, unity and liberation. He is a firm believer in the liberation of Palestine, and, therefore, he deserves our support.

But as a Catholic, surely you believe that the Ba'ath Party, under Saddam in particular, was virulently anti-Christian? Surely you are not suggesting that most/all of the accusations of an anti-Christian bias are without foundation? If you are saying so, what proof to the contrary would you offer not only to fellow Catholics and Christians, but to those people who are anti-war but who seem to believe most of the media's accusations against Saddam?

The Baath Party is a secular pan Arab party and the founder of the Party, Michel Aflaq, was a Christian. It is the party of every Arab. It has members who are Christians, Muslims, Druze, seculars and atheists. Freedom of religion and worship is guaranteed and respected. The Christians were always and still are part of the fabric of society in the Arab World as well as in Iraq.

New Christian churches were built and many were renovated under the Baath and Saddam in Iraq. Tariq Aziz, a Roman Catholic, among many Christians in Iraq enjoyed a high position in the Party and in the government. He is a member of the National Leadership of the party, a member of the Iraqi leadership. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and he is still the legitimate Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, and a Member of the Revolutionary Council.

Alas now, no Christians and no Muslims are safe in Iraq, under the occupation because Bush and Blair destroyed Iraq and brought sectarian parties with them to terrorize all Iraqis regardless to their religion. These sectarians are killing Muslims and Christians. Liquor store keepers are being assassinated. Barbers are being killed for shaving beards. Women cannot walk the streets alone and without a head cover of some sort. Mosques and Churches are being attacked and blown up. These things did not happen before under Saddam Hussein. Saddam is a builder and not a destroyer.

An Iraqi Bishop related to our correspondent that Iraqi Christians belong to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and lived for hundreds of years with their fellow Iraqis with no problems whatsoever... When the Zionist sponsored Kurdish Ephemera - militia bandits and gangsters in truth -  emptied Iraqi Christian villages in the north, they raped, kidnapped, killed and persecuted thousands of Christians, changing even their millennia old churches into cow sheds and pigsties. The survivors were forced to quit their homes. However, the Baath leadership and Saddam Hussein were there to provide help, and to welcome the suffering Iraqi Christians either in Mosul or in Baghdad and offered the necessary compensations.

The Iraqi religious authority known by his initials A.B.H. indicated that the Zionist Mossad has provided the puppet US-Iranian trained Iraqi police force, with the necessary remote controlled explosive devices to target Iraqi Christian Churches and sow chaos and intensify civil strife in martyr Iraq.

Sister Mary, an Iraqi Roman Catholic nun, told the Iraqi League 'When the criminal US forces of occupation entered Mosul, our Muslim neighbors ran to protect the Monastery, and assured us that they would protect everyone as long as they lived. This wonderful gesture had the greatest impact on all of us, and gave us great comfort and happiness in these difficult and hard times’.

Sister Mary also attacked vigorously those who are working tirelessly for the promotion of sectarianism and ethnic violence. She said 'we have never known these ugly labels, and it is certainly foreign to our culture and our beloved Iraqi society. Iraq is well known for the brotherhood and mutual forgiveness amongst its people over its history. There is no doubt that there are sick people who are conniving, plotting and brainwashing people to push them into committing acts of utter stupidity which are foreign to the well-known character and personality of Iraqis’.

As a Christian Arab who lived part of his life in Palestine and in Iraq, I never was treated like a detested minority. By the way the Christians are not minority, since they belong to the majority of the people because they are Arabs by blood, by identity and by culture.

Jubla Ibn Al Ayham, who was a Christian King in Palestine under the Romans, helped the Arab Muslim Armies, to liberate Jerusalem from the Roman occupation.

Issa Ibn Al-Awam, the Commander of the Christian Brigade under Saladin, was the first to enter Jerusalem when it was liberated from the Crusaders.

Under Saddam the Christians held high ranks in the State and its Institutions.

What is your opinion of the Iraqi Resistance? Do you think that it has a viable future - ie that it can oust the US from the country - or do you think that it will eventually burn itself out?

My opinion is very clear: the Resistance is legitimate and those who are part of the occupational political process are traitors and enemies of the Iraqi people. They should be treated as such.

No liberation movement ever failed to achieve its aim of liberating its occupied country. Iraq is occupied and the Iraqi National Resistance is well organized as we can see on the battlefield. It was organized and formed before the occupation and now it pours its burning flames on the occupiers and their agents. The stooge government only exists in the so called Green Zone, only in four square miles of Baghdad. They do not dare to walk out of this zone.

The occupation Generals and the Imperialist representative, Zalmay Khalilzad, are cornered in this "Green Zone" and they cannot expand beyond this zone. The Resistance controls most of Iraq. Day by day it gains strength and more support. If you read its program you will see its seriousness. Its aims are very clear: the destruction of the sectarian illegal government, firstly, then the expulsion of the occupier. At the same time it is inflicting heavy casualties on the Anglo-Saxon forces and their allies.

Burning itself out? No. The Resistance is depending on the Iraqi people and on their support. The occupiers are destroying Iraq and terrorizing its people. Iraq was occupied before. It was invaded by the British in the Twenties but eventually they were defeated and expelled. I am sure that the same fate is awaiting the present Anglo-Saxon forces and their racist sectarian stooges.

By invading and occupying Iraq the Americans were looking for profits and profits they did not reap. The oil they did not get and they cannot pump it steadily.  The Resistance keeps blowing up the pipelines, pump stations and other facilities. They cannot keep loosing money without any profit. Therefore they will be forced to withdraw. The American casualty rate already is very high and the troops are now desperate and demoralized.

Most mainstream media analysts argue that the Resistance is a purely Sunni phenomenon. Do you believe this? If not, why not?

The main stream media is very biased. It is part of the occupation forces and mostly ignorant of Iraq and its people. The media correspondents are spoon-fed by the Generals of the "Green Zone". They report only what is said to them and what suits the interests of the occupation. They do not see the battles; they do not talk to the people.

Not only Sunni Arabs are part of the Resistance. The Resistance is made of all parts of the Iraqi nation. It has Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Muslim Shias and Muslim Sunnis. It is made up of the legitimate Iraqi Army, Republican Guards, Baath Party, Saddam Fedayeen, Arab Nationalists and Islamists.

It is not true that the Resistance only exists in the "Sunni Triangle". It is in the North, in the Center, in the South, in the East and West. In every city and in every part of Iraq and it is growing. You have published an article in your books, Neo-CONNED, by Mr. Baghdadi a Shia Muslim from Iraq in which he states that 60% of the Baath party was Shia Muslim and likewise in the Iraqi Armed Forces. These people are part of the Resistance. Those who are part of the sectarian parties are either of Iranian origin or are pro-Iran and pro-occupation.

For example:  Ibrahim Al-Jaafari claims to be originally from Oshahijer in Arabia but in reality he is of  Pakistani origin. His mother is Iranian. He used to speak against the Great Satan, the United States, and then he became a strong ally of the Great Satan. Iran installed him as the head of the Dawa Party, a pro-Iran sectarian terrorist organization.

Mohammad Baqir Al-Hakim and Aziz Al-Hakim, the heads of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), are both Iranians from the city of Yazd. They were living in Iran and there they formed the infamous Badr Brigade whose role was to guard the Iraqi prisoners of War during the war with Iran. After shooting their  prisoners they buried them. Their commanders were Iranians and they came to Iraq with the occupying forces. Later they joined the Iraqi Army of the occupation so as to strengthen their position. Bayan Jabir, the puppet Minister of the Interior, the head of the assassination squads and head of the torture prisons in Iraq, is an Iranian from the city of Al-Lar. His real name is Baqir Solagh.

Moqtada Al-Sadr is an unusual figure in contemporary Iraq. On the one hand he is anti-occupation, pro-Resistance and shi'ite, whilst on the other hand he is anti-Ba'athist. Do you have any thoughts or insights on the man and his possible future importance in the direction of Iraq?

Unfortunately Moqtada Al-Sadr is an inexperienced young man. He is a tangle of self-interested causes that he cannot harmonize because he has trapped himself within the occupational political process. The other sectarian parties will not let him compete with other leaders like Al- Sistani, who is Iranian citizen and serving the interest of Iran and the Anglo-American Zionist occupation. Mr. Sadr claims to be against the occupation and pro-Resistance. If this is so, then why is he against the Baath that forms most of the Resistance and leads it?  And why is he part of the political process which was created by the occupation and controlled by Washington? If  Moqtada Al-Sadr is really sincere, then he should reject everything that the occupation offers and join the Iraqi National Resistance by faith and deed. Action speaks louder than words. Just recently he said: if Iran was attacked by the United States, then he will order his Mahdi Army to attack American forces in Iraq. Doesn’t he realize that Iraq is occupied by the United States? Then why he doesn’t fight the Anglo-American occupying forces in Iraq? Is his allegiance pro-Iran and or pro-Iraq? The other day the US and the sectarian militia that forms the "Iraqi" gangster army killed several members of his army in a mosque in Baghdad, in his neighborhood. I hope that Mr. Al-Sadr will wake up one day soon and join the Resistance that he claims to support.

His future in Iraq will depend upon his choices in relation to the Resistance’s Political Program. Those who are fighting against the occupation will have the right to form the government of Liberated Iraq. Those who became part of the political process will be washed away with the occupation.

President Hussein said recently during a session of the American-government sponsored show trial in Baghdad that he was the only person - along with the Ba'ath - who could bring peace to the country again. Is this a sign that he is losing touch with reality, or is it a sign that he knows the reality better from inside a prison than those who claim to be running the country from the outside?

President Hussein here speaks as the legitimate President of Iraq and as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces - which is now the Iraqi National Resistance. He has stated many times from his prison cell that Iraq will be liberated with him or without him, whether or not he is killed by the stooges of the Occupation Forces or its "court." Yes, he is able to restore peace, security and progress to Iraq along with the Baath party and with the other organizations in the Resistance and certainly not by those sectarians who live in the "Green Zone" under that protection of some 200,000 foreign troops. The stooges and the Occupation forces have failed to restore vital services to Iraq, things like water, electricity and other essential services. Saddam Hussein restored all the services, including electricity and water, in just six months, after the war with Iran ended. President Saddam Hussein knows Iraq and the Iraqi people much better than those who came under cover of  Anglo-Saxon weapons. He is a son of Iraq and a proud Arab, while the stooges are foreigners who do not care about Iraq and its people. They are interested only in filling their bank accounts with Iraq’s stolen wealth. Saddam built Iraq before and the stooges ruined it. Certainly he is capable of rebuilding Iraq and restoring its institutions in a short period of time following liberation.

What do you think people should be doing in light of all you've said before?

We hope that people who believe in the cause of liberation will send their articles to Al-Moharer to be considered for publication if these articles meet our standard.

But for the support of the Iraqi people we hope that the Anti-War Movements and Human Rights Organizations would lend their full support to the liberation movement of Iraq, and show their unqualified support for the legitimate leadership of Iraq and the Baath Party since it is these that lead the struggle.

I may add, too, that the Anti-War movement must support the Palestinian struggle without reservation and they must realize that Palestine is Arab. It belongs to the Arab people and the Palestinians have the right to liberate all of Palestine and build their state according to their own wishes and designs.