Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Letter From A Mujahid To His Wife


Ghazi Anwar Pasha's Last Letter to his wife

Ghazi Anwar Pasha was from amongst those great Mujahideen of Turkey who had spent all his life fighting against the enemies of Islam. Eventually he was martyred by the Russians. Only a day prior to this he sent a letter to his wife, Najiya Sultana. This letter was published by her in the Turkish newspapers, and after being transferred was published by her in the newspapers in India on the 22 April 1923.

This letter is so touching and thought provoking that every young man should read it. An inspiring account of Mujahideen from the Uthmaniyah period.

My Dearest Najiyya,

My life companion and fountain of happiness and joy dearest Najiya. The Almighty Allah is your guardian. Your last letter is in front of me at this moment. Believe me, this letter of yours will always be close to my heart. I cannot see your face but in between the lines and words of your letter I can see your beautiful fingers which used to play with my hair in the dark interior of tent, occasionally your picture fills my eyes. Alas, you write that I have forgotten you and that i do not care for your love.

You say that I have broken your loving heart and playing with fire and blood in a distant forsaken and I am unmindful of a woman who spends the night anxiously counting the stars.

You also say that I like war and my sword. But little did you realise when writing these words of yours, which undoubtedly were written with sincerity, out of deep love and devotion for me, will my heart.! How can I convince you [words are inadequate] that there is no one dearer to me in this world than you. You are the culmination of all my love and affection. I have never loved anyone before but you have stolen my heart.

Then what has separated me from You? O the joy of my heart! You can ask this question in a proper manner. Listen! "I am not away from you because I desire material gains of wealth nor is it because I wish to establish a kingdom or throne for myself as my enemies have publicly intimated. The only reason that I am away from you is that Allah's Obligatory Command has brought me here [battlefield] There is no greater fardh of Allah than Jihad Fi Sabilillah{to fight in the path of Allah}. It is this command of Allah, the intention of fulfilling it entitles a person a place in Jannah.

Alhumdulillah I not only have the intention to fulfil this command but am actively carrying it out in the battlefield.

Your absence{judai} , like an arrow is cutting my heart into pieces every moment. Notwithstanding this I am happy in this separation as it is your true love, and your love which is the greatest test, a challenge to my intention and resolution of fighting in the path of Allah Subhanu Wata'aala.

I thank Allah Ta'ala a thousand times that I have been victorious in this test and have been successful in putting Allah's love and command before my live, love and the pleasure of my desire{nafs} . You also, my darling must thank Allah Ta'ala and be happy that your husband possesses such a strong Emaan that he can ever sacrifice your love for the love of Allah.

Although Jihad with the sword is not compulsory on you, my love lest you are not exempted from it, no muslim male or female is exempted from Jihad. Your Jihad is that you must put Allah's love before your love and pleasure and you must make the bond of love between your husband and you stronger.

Look, never ever pray that your husband must come safe and sound from the battlefield into your loving arms. This prayer is selfish and Allah will not be pleased. Rather let your prayer be this, that Allah accept the Jihad of your husband and bring him back successfully otherwise let his lips imbibe the cup of martyrdom. These lips you know my darling have never been touched or dirtied by alcohol, but have always been kept busy with reciting the Holy Qur'an and hymming the glory and praises of Allah Subhanu Wata'aalah.

Dearest Najiya! How blessed will that moment be when in the path of Allah this head which you affectionately called beautiful will be separated from the body which in your eyes was not a soldier's body but a beloved's body!

Anwar's greatest wish is to be martyred and be judged on the day of Qiyammah with Hadrat Khalid bin Waleed {R.A.}, This world is a temporary one, Death will definitely come, Then why fear death? If death is definite, then why should a man die lying on a bed? Death in the path of Allah is not death but indeed life everlasting life.

Najiayya listen to my will! If I am martyred you must marry by brother Noori Pasha. After you, the dearest peron to me is Noori. It is my wish that after my demise he will faithfully care for you during your lifetime. My next wish is that all the children you bear tell them about my life and send all of them to the battlefield of Jihad for Islam. Remember if you do not fulfil this wish of mine, I will be angry with you in Jannah.

Farewell, my dearest! I don't know why my inner feelings tell me that after this letter I will never be able to write another lettter to you. It is no wonder that I may be martyred tomorrow.

Look! make sabr, on my death be happy and do not mourn, because my death in the path of Allah is an honour for you. Najiyya! I beg leave of you and in the world of thought I am embracing you.

Insha'Allah we will meet in Jannah and thereafter we will never part.

Your Anwar

*Ghazi Anwar Pasha was martyred the following day*


source : Turn to Islam

Friday, June 25, 2010

Fastech 360

Debuted: 2006
Goal: Fastest train in the world operational by 2011
Funding: Public

Japan is testing a prototype of the FASTECH 360, the newest addition to its world-class Shinkansen fleet of high-speed trains. The train aims to become the fastest in the world, operating at speeds of up to 224 mph.

The Fastech 360S train at Omiya Station, May 2008

Fastech 360 is the name given to a pair of former experimental high-speed trains developed by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) to test technology for the next-generation Shinkansen rolling stock. The name is a portmanteau of Fast, Technology, and 360 km/h (223 mph), the target operational speed for production trains based on the new technologies. Speeds of up to 405 km/h (251 mph) were targeted during performance testing. Results of testing using these trains will be incorporated into the E5 series and E6 series trains which are scheduled to enter revenue service from 2011, eventually operating at 320 km/h (200 mph).

There were 2 trains:
Class E954 Fastech 360S: 8-car set for use on Shinkansen tracks only
Class E955 Fastech 360Z: 6-car set for use on both Shinkansen and Mini-shinkansen lines

Detail of signature air brakes in deployed state

Fastech 360 trains were equipped with emergency air braking plates like that of an aircraft, similar in appearance to the ears of a cat. This trait earned them a nickname of Nekomimi Shinkansen (猫耳新幹線?), which literally means "cat-eared Shinkansen". This technology was not incorporated in the E5 series.


source : Business Week & Wikipedia

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pinjaman Perumahan Secara Islam

Oleh : Dr Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera (Dekan Pusat Kajian Lepasan Ijazah, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa, Malaysia.)

Perbankan dan kewangan Islam di Malaysia berperanan memenuhi keperluan pengguna yang ingin urus niaga kewangan mereka bebas daripada riba, atau faedah. Justeru, institusi kewangan Islam di negara ini telah memperkenalkan beberapa kaedah pembiayaan pemilikan rumah yang mematuhi Syariah. Antara kaedah yang dominan ialah al-bay’ bithaman ajil (BBA) dan kontrak perkongsian musyarakah mutanaqisah (MM).

Kaedah BBA atau jualan dengan bayaran tertunda adalah popular di negara seperti Malaysia, Indonesia dan Brunei. Sementara kaedah MM atau perkongsian berkurangan lazimnya diamalkan di Timur Tengah, Amerika Syarikat, Kanada, England dan Australia. Pakar Syariah di Timur Tengah umumnya menolak kontrak perkongsian BBA.

Di Malaysia, di mana BBA diamalkan, suara-suara tidak puas hati mula kedenganaran daripada para pelanggan. BBA dikritik sebagai instrumen urus niaga yang ‘tidak adil’ berbanding sistem gadai janji konvensional.

Sebagai contoh, dalam pembelian rumah, aspek harga jualannya dikatakan tidak melambangkan harga pasaran sebenar ekoran tambahan harga tokokan yang besar bagi pembayaran tertunda. Selain itu, bagi bayaran penebusan awal, bakinya selalunya lebih tinggi, malah pada bila-bila masa sekalipun, sehinggalah bayaran penyelesaian dibuat. Ini boleh dilihat seperti di bawah:

Sebagai contoh, seorang pelanggan membeli sebuah rumah pada harga RM200,000. Dia membuat bayaran muka sebanyak 10 peratus, atau RM20,000. Bakinya RM180,000 dibiayai menerusi BBA. Andaikan Kadar Keuntungan Tahunan (APR) yang dicaj oleh bank ialah sebanyak 10 peratus setahun dan tempoh pembiayaan adalah 20 tahun. Di bawah BBA, bank akan membeli rumah berkenaan, kemudian menjualnya kepada pelanggan dengan keuntungan tertentu, dengan bakinya dibayar secara tertunda selama 20 tahun.

Ansuran bulanan bagi pembiayaan di atas ialah sebanyak RM1,737.04 (dikira berdasarkan formula standard bagi nilai kini anuiti), dan dibayar selama 240 bulan. Jumlah semua pembayaran adalah sebanyak RM416,889.35. Perbezaan antara jumlah ini dengan angka pembiayaan asal ialah sebanyak RM236,889.35. Amaun ini ialah jumlah keuntungan yang diperolehi oleh bank. Di bawah kaedah gadai janji konvensional, ia mewakili jumlah faedah yang dibayar bagi pinjaman selama 20 tahun. Keuntungan RM236,889.35 itu diraih terlebih dahulu menurut kaedah BBA, sementara di bawah kaedah konvensional, faedah tidak akan dikira matang sehingga tempoh matangnya tiba.

Satu perbezaan penting antara BBA dengan kaedah gadai janji konvensional ialah baki pembiayaan yang masih tinggal sebelum kontrak tersebut luput. Baki BBA selepas 10 tahun (iaitu selepas 120 ansuran) misalnya, ialah jumlah baki 120 ansuran, iaitu sebanyak RM208,444.80. Di bawah kaedah konvensional, bakinya ialah nilai kini ansuran tersebut, iaitu sebanyak RM131,443.76 (bank tidak mengenakan faedah ke atas baki 10 tahun itu).

Dalam kes BBA, bank mungkin memberi rebat tertentu bagi penebusan awal. Namun begitu, amaunnya ditentukan mengikut budi bicara bank semata-mata kerana Syariah melarang rebat disebut sebagai sebahagian daripada kontrak. Perhatikan bahawa walaupun setelah 10 tahun membayar ansuran, baki di bawah kaedah BBA masih mengatasi amaun pembiayaan asal sebanyak RM180,000.

Kelemahan BBA ini tidak dapat dielakkan, memandangkan persekitaran kewangan di mana ia beroperasi. Dua sistem kewangan yang berbeza yang wujud bersama akan bertumpu ekoran aktiviti arbitraj antara kedua-duanya. Perbankan Islam secara beransur-ansur bertumpu dengan sistem konvensional sedia ada. Ia bertumpu daripada prinsip ‘perkongsian keuntungannya’ yang asal kepada kaedah pembiayaan berkadar-tetap, seperti kaedah murabaha (tokok kos) dan ijarah (pajakan).

Peralihan ini mewujudkan peluang arbitraj yang luas antara pasaran berkadar-tetap Islam dengan kadar-terapung pasaran konvensional, terutamanya melalui swap kadar faedah. Oleh itu, tidaklah memeranjatkan sekiranya pemain pasaran dan juga pakar Syariah kini mula bercakap mengenai swap kadar faedah, pinjaman salingan dsb., yang merupakan instrumen inovatif bagi mengarbitraj perbezaan antara dua sistem perbankan itu.

Kaedah BBA yang berkadar-tetap ini juga mencetuskan masalah pengurusan risiko-kecairan kepada perbankan Islam di mana kadar keuntungannya kekal konstan sepanjang tempoh pembiayaan sedangkan sumber dananya umumnya bersifat jangka pendek. Masalah ini jelas kelihatan semasa krisis kewangan 1997-98 apabila bank-bank Islam gagal bertindak balas terhadap kenaikan kadar faedah yang tinggi ketika itu.

Kini, kewangan Islam mula bertumpu kepada pasaran berkadar-terapung. Bank Negara telah membenarkan BBA yang berkadar-terapung dengan pelanggan perlu membayar ansuran bulanan yang lebih tinggi, tetapi pada saat yang sama menerima rebat yang bergantung kepada kadar faedah lazim. Keperluan membayar ansuran bulanan yang lebih tinggi sebelum menerima rebat boleh menyebabkan masalah aliran tunai dan terbukti membebankan. Dalam pada itu, bertumpunya dua sistem perbankan ini turut menimbulkan masalah-masalah lain. Pelanggan yang tidak berpuas hati misalnya, akan menuduh perbankan Islam sebagai tidak Islamik dan tidak ada bezanya dengan perbankan konvensional.

Lakuna dalam BBA ini mungkin boleh diatasi oleh bentuk kontrak perkongsian yang lain, iaitu musyarakah mutanaqisah (MM). Kaedah MM atau kaedah perkongsian berkurangan kini dikemukakan sebagai alternatif kepada BBA.

Terdapat dua bahagian dalam kontrak ini. Pertama, pelanggan membuat perkongsian (musyarakah) dengan bank di bawah konsep syirkah al-milk (pemilikan bersama). Pelanggan misalnya, membayar 10 peratus sebagai saham pendahuluan untuk memiliki-bersama rumah berkenaan, sementara bank membayar bakinya. Pelanggan kemudiannya membayar secara beransur-ansur untuk menebus saham pembiaya sebanyak 90 peratus itu pada kadar dan tempoh yang dipersetujui sehingga rumah itu dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh beliau.

Kedua, bank memajak sahamnya ke atas pemilikan rumah berkenaan kepada pelanggan di bawah konsep ijarah (pajakan). Setiap pembayaran sewa adalah dikongsi bersama antara pelanggan dengan bank menurut nisbah pemegangan saham masing-masing, pada masa berkenaan itu, yang sentiasa berubah apabila pelanggan terus-menerus menebus saham pembiaya. Justeru, nisbah saham pelanggan akan terus meningkat selepas setiap pembayaran sewa sehinggalah ia dimiliki sepenuhnya. Oleh sebab itu, kaedah MM ini adalah sesuai bagi pembiayaan aset seperti rumah atau peralatan yang boleh dipajakkan. Kaedah MM ini boleh dijelaskan seperti berikut:

Kita lihat kembali contoh pembiayaan rumah di atas. Pelanggan membayar 10 peratus daripada harga, iaitu RM20,000, sementara pembiaya membiayai bakinya sebanyak RM180,000. Di bawah BBA dan kaedah urus niaga konvensional, pelanggan akan membayar RM1,737.04 sebulan kepada pembiaya. Andaikan sewaannya ialah RM1,000 sebulan (dengan nisbah Sewa Tahunan/Harga sebanyak 6 peratus), maka jadual ‘pelunasan’ bagi MM boleh dilihat dalam Jadual 1 di bawah, dengan bayaran bulanan sebanyak RM1289.58 sahaja. Pelanggan jimat RM447.46 sebulan. Tambahan RM289.58 kepada sewa bulanan RM1000 adalah diperlukan bagi membolehkan pelanggan menebus saham pembiaya dalam tempoh 20 tahun.

Jadi, di bawah MM, walaupun pelanggan hanya membayar RM1289.58 sebulan, dia masih dapat memiliki rumah tersebut dalam tempoh 20 tahun. Sekiranya dia memilih untuk membayar ansuran bulanan sebanyak RM1737.04, maka dia akan memilikinya dalam tempoh 12 tahun 3 bulan, sekali gus menyelamatkan bayaran bulanan selama 8 tahun.

Walaupun kaedah-kaedah gadai janji konvensional, BBA dan MM adalah berbeza dari segi konsepnya, namun terbitan matematik bagi MM menunjukkan bahawa formulanya masih sama dengan gadai janji konvensional dan BBA. Unsur yang berbeza hanyalah penggantian kadar faedah dengan kadar sewaan. (Kolum berlorek dalam Jadual 1 adalah masing-masing sama dengan bahagian pembayaran, kadar faedah dan baki pinjaman seperti gadai janji konvensional).*

Kadar pulangan di bawah MM adalah ditentukan oleh kadar sewa semata-mata, iaitu dalam kes ini, 0.5% sebulan (dan APR sebanyak 6%). Pulangan kepada pembiaya ini tidak ditentukan oleh, sama ada modal pendahuluan yang disediakan olehnya maupun oleh tempoh kontrak. Justeru, pembiaya di bawah kaedah MM ini mungkin akan hanya berminat membiayai rumah yang tinggi nilai sewaannya, sedangkan pelanggan pula mahu sewa yang rendah.

Bagi kes penebusan awal, baki di bawah pinjaman konvensional dan MM adalah sama (bagi APR yang sama), sementara baki di bawah BBA akan kekal lebih tinggi. Malah pengiraan MM adalah serupa dengan angka-angka di bawah gadai janji konvensional, dengan perbezaan hanya pada struktur pemilikannya. Ini kerana kaedah gadai janii konvensional dan MM menuruti jadual baki berkurangan. Oleh sebab itu, baki di bawah kaedah konvensional dan MM tidak pernah melebihi sumbangan asal pembiaya. Akan tetapi di bawah BBA, ia adalah sebaliknya.


Jadual 1

Jadual Pembayaran bagi Kontrak Musyarakah Mutanaqisah
Bahagian Sewaan
Bulan Sewa Bulanan
(RM) Penebusan Bulanan
(RM) Jumlah Bayaran
(RM) Nisbah Pemilikan Pelanggan Pelanggan Pembiaya Ekuiti Pelanggan (RM) Ekuiti Pembiaya (RM) Aliran Tunai Pembiaya
(RM)
A B C=A+B D E F G H
0 0.10000 20,000.00 180,000 (180,000)
1 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.10195 100.00 900.00 20,389.59 179,610.4 1,289.58
2 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.10391 101.95 898.05 20,781.11 179,218.9 1,289.58
3 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.10587 103.91 896.09 21,174.59 178,825.4 1,289.58
4 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.10785 105.87 894.13 21,570.05 178,430.0 1,289.58
5 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.10984 107.85 892.15 21,967.48 178,032.5 1,289.58
6 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 0.11183 109.84 890.16 22,366.89 177,633.1 1,289.58
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
240 1,000 289.58 1,289.58 1.00000 993.59 6.41 200,000 0 1,289.58
Jumlah = RM309,499.20 IRR= 6%


Berdasarkan hujah di atas, adalah jelas kaedah MM tidak begitu menarik kepada bank berbanding kontrak BBA. Justeru, MM adalah sesuai untuk diamalkan oleh, misalnya, koperasi perumahan yang modalnya disediakan oleh ahli untuk manfaat diri mereka sendiri. Selain menyediakan rumah yang lebih murah untuk ahli koperasi, MM juga menawarkan peluang untuk melabur dalam harta tanah kepada mereka.

Walau bagaimanapun, jika harga rumah dinilai-semula secara berkala, seperti cadangan penasihat Syariah Bank Negara, Dr Mohd Ali Hj Baharum, maka laba modal akan terus meningkatkan pulangan kepada pembiaya, sekali gus menjadikan kaedah MM sekurang-kurangnya sama menarik dengan kaedah konvensional atau BBA.

Sesungguhnya konsep MM ini telah diguna pakai oleh sebilangan penyedia khidmat kewangan Islam di serata dunia. Model yang berjaya termasuklah Islamic Housing Cooperative (Kanada), Ansar Cooperative House (Kanada), Ansar Housing Limited (England), Arab Banking Corporation dan Lloyds TSB (England), LARIBA Finance House (California), Guidance Financial Group (Virginia) dan skim ‘Rumah Mudah’ Bank Meezan (Pakistan). Dalam hal ini, langkah proaktif Maybank untuk mempertimbangkan pengenalan MM harus dipuji.

Walaupun begitu, MM tidaklah bebas sepenuhnya daripada masalah operasi. Sebagai contoh, menjejaki nilai sewaan mungkin rumit, terutama sekali bagi lokasi yang pelbagai. Mengikut peredaran masa, nilai sewaan biasanya akan meningkat, namun tidaklah mudah untuk meyakinkan pelanggan bahawa dia kini harus membayar sewaan yang lebih tinggi.

Oleh itu, sesetengah pihak mencadangkan penggunaan kadar faedah pasaran seperti KLIBOR, BLR, LIBOR dan sebagainya sebagai penanda aras bagi sewa. Akan tetapi, dengan formula matematik yang sama, ini akan menjadikan MM serupa dengan pembiayaan konvensional berkadar-terapung (dengan perbezaan hanya pada struktur pemilikan).

Oleh sebab banyak kajian harta tanah menunjukkan bahawa harga harta merupakan angkubah penting dalam menentukan sewa, maka kami mencadangkan suatu bentuk indeks harta tanah digunakan sebagai penanda aras, seperti Indeks Harga Rumah dalam kes Malaysia (yang dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Perkhidmatan Penilaian dan Harta Tanah, Kementerian Kewangan, Malaysia. Lihat: www.jpph.gov.my). Justeru, berbeza daripada kadar faedah, indeks harga rumah akan dikaitkan secara langsung dengan usufruk aset tersebut (dengan nilai indeks yang berbeza menurut lokaliti).

Pelaksanaan MM mungkin juga memerlukan pindaan terhadap peraturan percukaian bagi membolehkan hanya caj sewa yang menyumbang kepada keuntungan dikira sebagai pendapatan bank. Dengan perkataan lain, caj sewa yang menyumbang kepada ekuiti pelanggan tidak boleh dikenakan cukai.


p/s : Terbitan matematik dan lembaran hamparan Microsoft Excel yang menghasilkan jadual bagi MM (serupa dengan Jadual 1) boleh diperolehi daripada pengarang di alamat emel: akameel@iiu.edu.my.

Sumber : Al-Fikrah

Friday, June 4, 2010

World Cup Fever!

BACKGROUND

Even though FIFA was formed as early as 1904, it took them almost three decades to start a true international competition. The Olympic tournament had been the only tournament so far with world wide participation, but that was for amateurs only. However, more and more nations had adopted professionalism and "shamateurism" was creeping into the amateur game. This was apparent at the Paris Olympics in 1924, when the very "professional" Uruguay team became the first South American nation to win the title.  


FIFA and the International Olympic Committee were at loggerheads over who should control the Olympic soccer tournament. FIFA announced they were the highest footballing authority and so should run a tournament claiming to be the biggest soccer event in the world. With many top nations withdrawing from the Olympics in 1928, among them Denmark and England, FIFA made a decision. They accepted the resolution of Henri Delaunay, secretary of the French FA since 1919 until his death in 1956, that a World Cup competition would be organized immediately. The acceptance of his proposal came two years after he had announced to the footballing authorities: "International football can no longer be held within the confines of the Olympics and many countries where professionalism is now recognized and organized cannot any longer be represented there by their best players." His resolution was passed by 25 votes to 5.

FIFA duly announced its plan to run its own competition, open to all affiliated countries. They did not immediately give name to the competition, but the world's press were quick to give it their own title. "World Cup", "World Soccer Championship" and "La Coupe de Monde" were favourite descriptions. Another was the "Jules Rimet Cup". Eventually that was how the World Cup officially became known, thus honouring the man who had done so much for FIFA in drumming up support amongst member nations.

By May 1929, FIFA still had not finalized plans for the first championship, although they had announced it would take place in 1930. The host nation had not been selected and as talks dragged on, it was apparent that finance was to be the biggest problem in running such a tournament, particularly if it was to be a true world championship.

Rodolfe Seeldrayers, the FIFA vice-president, proposed that the country give the honour of staging the first tournament should make funds available for (in the following order of priority) transport and accommodation expenses for referees, FIFA members and the teams. This was clearly going to be an expensive proposition for any national FA to undertake, but there were some willing takers. Holland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay had all put their names forward, but Sweden and Holland soon withdrew and lent their support to Italy's claim. The South American nations stood by Uruguay, and the rest of the European candidates soon withdrew of various reasons.

So it was all left to Uruguay, the only remaining nominee. At last the dream was about to be realized, the date was set and the host country selected. It was a case of "Uruguay, here we come".

THE TROPHIES

The French sculptor Abel Lafleur was honoured to design the first World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Cup. It was a gold statuette weighing about 3,8 kilograms and was about 35 centimeters tall, representing an allegorical winged victory on an octagonal base. This famous trophy was first stolen at an exhibition in London prior to the 1966 World Cup, but it was found by a dog named Pickles under some bushes outside London shortly after. In 1930 they said the first nation to win it three times would keep it forever. When Brazil won their third title in Mexico 1970, they won permanent possesion of it. In 1983 it was stolen again, and to this day it has not been recovered.

The present trophy, the FIFA World Cup, weighs about 5 kilograms and is 36 centimeters tall. It was introduced to the 1974 World Cup and is made of solid gold and malachite. It is made by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. He described his creation thus: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory".

This trophy cannot be won outright as the regulations state that it shall remain FIFA's own possession. The World Cup winners retain it until the next tournament and are awarded a replica, gold-plated rather than solid gold.


source : Planet Worldcup

p/s : 2010 World Cup Final Tournament Schedule in xls format( fully automatic without manual sorting) now available for download at Excely.com

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Demographic Infiltration Strategy

Palestina Enggan Tunduk

Demographic changes well underway in Israel and the West Bank may mean the Jewish nation could end up with an Arab majority.

Already, population statistics have sent shockwaves through Israel’s conservative Likud leadership – to the point that some Jewish leaders who once espoused a “greater Israel” that included the West Bank, are seeking to disengage themselves from the land of their Biblical promise.

Before the modern State of Israel was formally established in 1947, the Jewish people could only claim a homeland intermittently throughout history. Always considered a spiritual home by Jews, a Jewish state did exist off and on for a millennium before it was finally vacated by the Roman Empire in the second century A.D., with parts of it renamed "Palestine," after the Jews' ancient enemies, the Philistines.

Conquered from the Romans by the Byzantines in the 7th century, the land eventually became inhabited by Arab peoples.

After centuries of diaspora – the scattering of Jews in settled colonies outside Palestine – Zionism, or the desire to see a Jewish state created, began to take hold in and around the ancient lands of Palestine.

In response, Jews began to relocate gradually to the area around the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was still controlled by the Turks (Ottoman Empire – the most powerful of the modern Muslim empires, founded in the 16th century) and, after World War I, the British. [Editor's note: Bosnia's Muslims are descendants of this empire].

Today, of Israel's roughly 6.75 million people, the majority – about 5 million – are Jewish.

Cause for Worry

But there is a phenomenon occurring that has some Jewish leaders worried. Israel's non-Jewish minority, consisting of more than 75 percent Arab Muslims, is growing at nearly 5 percent a year, faster than Israel's Jewish population at 3 percent annually (according to 1997 figures).

Due to a continual influx of people from surrounding Middle East nations, will Israel will soon be an Arab nation in all but name? Some believe so.

As the Jews-to-Arabs ratio declines in Israel, Jewish populations around the Arab world are also waning, and have been since the end of World War II.

According to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, nearly 900,000 Jews lived in communities throughout the Arab world but today, that number has declined to fewer than 8,000.

Entire Jewish communities, such as one that previously existed in Libya, are gone entirely. In others only a few hundred Jews remain. Most Jews were forced to flee Arab homelands following the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.

During the exodus, Israel absorbed about 600,000 of the 900,000 Jews living abroad, but in the process property and lands owned by fleeing Jews were confiscated by Arab governments. Today nearly half of Israel's Jews are descendants of that exodus; the remainder went to Europe and the Americas.

Arab leaders have also begun noticing the trend.

In the Shadow of Arab Culture

In November 2001, the Arab Strategic Report, published by the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in London, said a high Palestinian birthrate, coupled with a halt in Jewish immigration to Israel and Palestinian migration within Israel's borders will eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian Arab State where the Jews will live "in the shadow of Arab culture."

Dr. Wahid Abd Al-Magid, publisher of the report, advocated an end to Arab-Israeli conflict by changing Israel's demographic balance within its own borders. According to the plan, Israeli Arabs must be the basis for stopping Jewish immigration to Israel and providing economic support for the migration of Arabs into Israel. The added migration would eventually bring about a Palestinian-Arab state, al-Magid said, and Jews who wished to do so could remain and live under the "umbrella of our Arab culture."

"The Arabs of 1948 could become a majority in Israel in the year 2035, and they will certainly be a majority by 2048, a century after their 'Nakbah' [tragedy of the 1948 war] and their first defeat," al-Magid wrote in the report.

"The demographic threat is not solely the outcome of natural population increase of Palestinians who remained in Israel in 1948, but also of the infiltration of tens of thousands of Palestinians into Israel. These stay in Israel and create facts on the ground through marriage with citizens of the 1948 population…" he added.

Palestinians claim much of the land inhabited by Israel belongs to them or their descendents. According to the Arab Association of Human Rights:

"The Palestinian Arabs within Israel made up the majority of inhabitants of Palestine before to 1948. As a result of the war of 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel, 84 percent of the Palestinian population were exiled and became refugees. Those Palestinians who remained found that they had become a minority virtually overnight in what had become a Jewish state…"

Gaining the Upper Hand

Ultimately, however, Palestinians – indeed, Arabs in general – may eventually gain the upper hand in Israel, at least demographically.

One Israeli leader, former speaker of the Israeli Parliament, Avraham Burg, thinks so. In August 2003, he charged Israel had failed in its historic mission to become a "light unto nations" because of its belligerence.

And in December, the London Guardian reported, Burg spoke openly of a subject considered unspeakable by many Israelis when he said, "Between the Jordan [River] and the Mediterranean, somewhere between next year and two years' time, there will be born the first Palestinian ... of the Palestinian majority," ushering in a generation of Arabs who will outnumber Israelis.

The most recent immigration figures reflect at least the philosophical accuracy of Burg's prediction. Immigration to Israel has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, the Guardian reported, a phenomenon which has drastically curbed Israel's population growth. Ongoing violence and a faltering economy have led to the collapse, analysts say.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to attract a million immigrants in the next decade, but over three years' time, immigration has been reduced by half. Officially, Israel's Jewish population stands at about 81 percent of the total, compared to 19 percent Arab and "other" nationalities. But the Jewish population, despite government incentives for couples who have more than one child, grew at its lowest rate last year in since 1990.

Simple Mathmatics

"At the heart of this is simple mathematics," said the Guardian. "Forecasts from the United States' Population Reference Bureau show Israel's population doubling in 45 years, that of the West Bank in 21 years and that of Gaza in 15 years. In other words, Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and Israeli Arabs will outnumber the Jewish population by 2020.

"David Landau, editor of the English-language edition of the newspaper Ha'aretz, has warned of a "cataclysmic" demographic challenge if Jews lose their majority status in their own country. He told a symposium in San Francisco that he feared Palestinians would abandon calls for a two-state solution and insist on equal voting rights within a wider Israel - which would end the Zionist dream.

Arnon Soffer, a geography professor at Israel's Haifa University and a lecturer at the Israeli army's Staff and Command college, first warned of the impending Jewish demographic minority in the 1980s, but was widely dismissed. He predicted Arabs would outnumber Jews in both Israel proper and the occupied territories by 2010.

But Soffer has found favor with such Israeli notables as former Prime Ministers Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, as well as other Israel political, social and cultural leaders. And in February 2001, the night of his election, Sharon sent an aide to ask Soffer for a copy of his 1987 treatise about the demographic threat to Israel; it was the same study that had led Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to declare in the late 1980s that the "Palestinian womb" was his people's greatest weapon.

Forward magazine reported Soffer has repeated is dire predictions recently. "I've been saying, 'Folks, the State of Israel is coming to an end,' and suddenly, in the last three years, the scales have fallen from people's eyes," Soffer, 68, said in a recent interview. "The change in public opinion began with the intifada and the Israeli Arab riots, and then the suicide bombings. People realized this was a new situation."

Solutions

Worse than the notion of a Jewish minority in Israel are the solutions to prevent it from happening. Soffer says he believes the idea of a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians is a "utopian" notion. He says he believes even Palestinian moderates like Yasser Abed Rabbo and Sari Nusseibeh are playing to the Israeli left, while still planning to take over the Jewish state demographically.

A policy of expulsion or transferring the Arab and Palestinian populations out of Israel altogether would be the best solution demographically, but the one that would most likely cost Israel the most politically. Yet "without expulsion Israel is faced with the choice of delivering political rights to the burgeoning population or practicing a form of political apartheid," the Guardian reported.

One of the first practical solutions, however, could simply be educating average Israelis of the demographic danger. Soffer, in the "Proposed Solutions" segment of his updated pamphlet, "Israeli Demography, 2003-2020 — Dangers and Opportunities," he wrote, "A campaign should be started against traitorous academics and journalists who preach hatred of Israel at universities in Europe, the United States and Israel itself.

"He also says it is time to dismantle the illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and even proposes setting up prisons for "10,000 lawbreakers" in the case where the settlers would react with violence to any Israeli army attempt to evict them. Forward reports: "Facing down the settlers on the hilltop outposts will be a fateful test for the government and army, and if they fail, [Soffer] said, 'Israel will become a banana republic.'

"Soffer says he would give the Palestinians 85 – 90 percent of the West Bank, excluding small sections just over the Green Line where the Jewish settlements are concentrated — roughly the sections now being surrounded by the new security fence. And he would also give the Palestinians East Jerusalem, with the exception of places holy to Jews like the Temple Mount and Mount of Olives. "Who needs it? Let Arafat take it and go to hell," he said.

"If such a course is carried out, there will remain within the bounds of Israel in 2020 an Arab population of 1,300,000, [while the] Jewish population will then number six million. These are statistics that a Jewish-Zionist Israel can digest," he wrote. But, if borders don't change, the Israeli Jewish population in 2020 will be 6.3 million, compared to more than 8.7 million Arabs.

The only other hope is one that seems distant – massive immigration. Sharon's plan to entice a million more Jews to Israel before 2010 will have to be modified to coincide with some sort of truce with the Palestinians, a reduction in the violence besieging the country, and economic improvements. Otherwise, says the Guardian, "for all its military might, it is the birth rate that is wounding Israel."


source : Jon E. Dougherty

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