Obama Bela Israel

Kamis, 17 April 2008 | 19:30 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif, Philadelphia: Bakal calon Presiden Amerika Serikat dari Partai Demokrat Barack Husein Obama hari ini membela Israel terkait isu nuklir Iran.

"Mereka seharusnya tahu saya tidak punya pilihan untuk mencegah menggunakan atau mendapatkan senjata nuklir," kata senator asal Illinois ini dalam acara debat televisi dengan pesaingnya, Hillary Clinton.

Hillary juga sependapat. "Kita tidak bisa membiarkan Iran menjadi kekuatan nuklir," ujarnya. Ia menegaskan kebijakan Presiden Amerika George Walker Bush telah gagal menangani isu ini.

Sebelumnya, Obama berjanji kepada para pemilih Yahudi akan melakukan yang terbaik membantu Israel menghadapi ancaman di kawasan Timur Tengah. "Serangan Iran terhadap Israel berarti serangan terhadap sekutu terkuat kita di Timur Tengah. Itu tidak bisa diterima dan akan Amerika akan mengambil tindakan tepat," ia menegaskan.

Ia juga mengkritik pertemuan mantan Presiden Amerika Jimmy Carter dan dua pemimpin Hamas, Mahmud Zahar dan said Siam, di Kairo, kemarin.

AFP/Faisal Assegaf

Spins : Yah, namanya juga orang bayaran AIPAC....ya gimana AIPAC aja deeeh....di koran tempo 23/04/2008 Clinton bahkan lebih heboh lagi 'jualannya'....."Kami Akan Lenyapkan Iran"....katanya....rakyat amrik harusnya kesel, yah ketipu lageeee deee....

Demokrasi dan politik uang di Amerika

Musim pemilu AS telah dimulai dimana rakyatnya mulai memilih Presiden baru. Beberapa bulan ke depan, Amerika dan belahan dunia lainnya akan menyaksikan siapa pengganti Presiden GW. Bush, apakah itu John McCain dari Partai Republik atau Hillary Clinton atau Barack Obama, dua capres dari Partai Demokrat. Sistem politik Amerika sering dibanggakan pada dunia sebagai contoh ‘Impian Amerika’, dimana rakyat biasa bisa memilih dengan penuh kebebasan untuk memilih pemimpin mereka, secara tertib dan damai. Dengan bangga, mereka berkata bahwa siapapun bisa mencalonkan diri sebagai kandidat Presiden.
Namun, kenyataan menunjukkan bahwa impian politik Amerika tidak lebih dari sekedar mitos; ini terbukti dari jumlah uang yang luarbiasa besar digelontorkan oleh beberapa kandidat elit saja; milyaran dollar telah terbayar untuk biaya kampanye. Faktanya adalah bahwa di Amerika dan dimana pun, Demokrasi tidak pernah menepati janjinya. Kuatnya pengaruh uang adalah kecacatan Demokrasi, suatu sistem pemerintahan yang memihak golongan kaya dan istemewa saja.

Di pemilu 2004, capres saat itu GW Bush menerima donasi 292 juta dollar, sedangkan lawannya John Kerry dari partai democrat menerima 253,9 juta dollar. Kandidat independen, Ralph Nader hanya menerima 4,5 juta dolar saja. Total biaya pemilihan Presiden dan kursi perwakilan rakyat di Konggres berkisar sebesar 3,9 milyar dollar.

Untuk tahun 2008 ini, Barack Obama telah mendapatkan 193 juta dolar, Hillary Clinton 169 juta dolar, sedangkan John McCain sekitar 64 juta dolar. Sebenarnya persyaratan untuk menjadi Capres Amerika cukup sederhana: kelahiran warga negara Amerika, tinggal di amerika selama 14 tahun, dan berumur minimal 35 tahun. Akan tetapi dengan jumlah biaya kampanye yang sangat besar seperti biaya iklan TV, radio dan kebutuhan pemasaran kampanye lainnya, sangat kecil kemungkinannya bagi anggota rakyat biasa untuk bisa menjadi capres yang bisa diperhitungkan. Uang menjadi penghadang alami.

Kenyataan semacam inilah yang menyebabkan hilangnya kepercayaan dari para pemilih Amerika terhadap sistem politiknya sendiri. Partisipasi pemilih di pemilu Amerika menunjukkan penurunan dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, dan merupakan salah satu tingkat partisipasi yang rendah di antara negara-negara maju lainnya. Maka secara praktis, hanya kelompok minoritas dari seluruh para pemilih yang memenuhi syarat sajalah yang akhirnya memilih calon wakil rakyat dan presiden.

Rakyat biasa pun akhirnya mulai mempertanyakan kenapa pilihan mereka pada pemilu sebenarnya tidak memiliki pengaruh yang berarti dalam sistem politik amerika. Dugaan rakyat terhadap tidak berartinya pilihan mereka pada pemilu semakin menguat ketika kebijakan politik partai Demokrat dan partai Republik semakin sulit dibedakan. Keduanya menerapkan politik luarnegeri yang haus perang dan memiliki agenda pro bisnis dengan mengorbankan pendanaan pelayanan sosial dalam negeri. Alasan kenapa sistem Demokrasi Amerika bisa melahirkan situasi

seperti ini adalah kuatnya pengaruh uang dan kelompok-kelompok kunci yang memiliki kepentingant tertentu. Korporasi atau perusahaan besar Amerika dan kelompok-kelompok tidak melihat diri mereka sebagai dermawan yang murah hati.Akan tetapi mereka memberikan uang kepada para calon politisi dengan harapan ketika para politisi terpilih atau memenangkan kursi kekuasaan, lahirlah kebijakan-kebijakan yang menguntungkan mereka sendiri.

Inilah cacat yang mendasar dari sistem Demokrasi, dimana ia menghasilkan hukum dan kebijakan buatan manusia yang akan menguntungkan pihak-pihak yang bisa memenangkan pengaruh, dengan tumbal rakyat biasa. Presiden Amerika sendiri, Eisenhower, pernah memperingatkan adanya kekuatan korup yang bisa menyetir kebijakan politik Amerika dalam pidato perpisahannya di bulan Januari 1961 sebagai berikut:

“…three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defence establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government.
We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military/industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

(”… tiga setengah juta pria dan wanita terlibat langsung dalam industri pertahanan. Kita mengeluarkan dana untuk kepentingan militer yang nilainya melampaui gabungan dari seluruh keuntungan bersih perusahaan-perusahaan di Amerika. Bagi Amerika sendiri, adanya superstruktur militer yang didukung oleh industri persenjataan adalah suatu hal baru. Dan pengaruhnya sungguh luar biasa baik dari segi ekonomi, politik, dan spiritual, dan juga dirasakan di setiap kota, pemerintah negara bagian, dan setiap departemen Federal.

Di satu sisi, kami sadar bahwa superstruktur ini penting untuk dimiliki. Tapi kita juga jangan lengah akan dampak atau implikasi yang berbahaya. Kerja keras kita, sumber daya kita, dan kehidupan kita, serta struktur masyarakat kita, kesemuanya saling terkait dan terlibat. Maka dalam sistem pemerintahan kita tetap harus ada kewaspadaan dari setiap pengaruh, baik secara sengaja atau tidak, dari kompleks militer/industri. Potensi akan lahirnya suatu kekuasaan yang tidak pada tempatnya akan tetap ada. “)

Saat ini pendanaan pertahanan Amerika sebesar 1 milyar dolar per tahun. Ini besarnya hampir sama dengan total APBN yang disetujui Konggres AS di bulan Maret 2008 sebesar 3 milyar dolar. Sedangkan pendanaan sosial dan kesehatan, secara kontras, semakin menurun di tahun-tahun terakhir. Meskipun, Amerika semakin banyak menghabiskan kekayaannya untuk kepentingan militer dan perang penjajahan di luar negerinya, pengaruh dari kontraktor persenjataan justru tidak menyurut. Pembagian proyek-proyek militer di negara-negara bagian yang diwakili para senator-senatornya yang berpengaruh di Konggres menunjukkan politik “Pork Barrel”, yaitu politik yang menunjukkan akrabnya pengaruh uang dengan politik. Ini tidak hanya terjadi di sektor pertahanan, tapi juga melibatkan semua korporasi Amerika, dimana mereka saling berlomba untuk memenangkan pengaruh pada para politisi. Hillary Clinton , baru-baru ini justru membuat pembelaan yang mengesankan terhadap para kelompok lobi yang memiliki kepentingan tertentu, seperti bank-bank investasi dan lembaga-lembaga keuangan yang merupakan donatur tradisional yang menyumbang dana bagi para calon Presiden dari partai demokrat maupun partai republik.

Kerentanan Demokrasi terhadap pengaruh uang dan korupsi tidak hanya terjadi di Amerika saja. Di manapun Demokrasi berada sebagai sistem pemerintahan, di situ tampaklah bagaimana golongan elit yang akhirnya mampu mengontrol pengaruh. Penelitian yang dilakukan di Amerika sendiri juga menunjukkan bahwa perusahaan yang menyumbang kepada para politisi selalu mendapatkan keuntungan yang besar dibanding perusahaan lainnya. Maka tidak heran kalau lapangan pekerjaan di Amerika di pindah ke luar negeri seperti negeri Dunia Ketiga (outsource) secara agresif, sehingga bisa menambah keuntungan mereka.

Demokrasi secara realita adalah cara canggih untuk mengontrol pengaruh dan dipakai oleh korporasi Amerika dan elit politiknya untuk secara berhati-hati memilih para pemimpinnya. Ketika rakyat Amerika memulai tradisinya untuk terlibat dalam pemilu, hasilnya akan selalu bisa ditebak. Siapapun yang menang, terlepas dari janji2 apapun yang pernah ditawarkan pada rakyat, akan melahirkan kebijakan-kebijakan ‘balas budi’ kepada para donaturnya di masa kampanye. Itulah sebabnya, pemenang sejati dalam pemilu adalah korporasi Amerika, kelompok lobi, dan grup yang memiliki kepentingan tertentu, yang telah menyokong dana kampanye para politisi. Akhirnya, golongan kaya sekali lagi mendapatkan keuntungan dengan mengorbankan nasib jutaan rakyat biasa. (Rusydan; Khilafah.com / 25 Maret 2008)

Negara Korporasi

• Dick Cheney (wakil presiden) memimpin perusahaan Haliburton Energi hingga tahun 2000. Berkat hubungan politisnya, dia berhasil memperoleh keuntungan mencapai sekira 45 juta dolar AS
• Condoleeza Rice (menlu AS ): CEO perusahaan Chevron Texas.
• Donald Rumsfeld (mantan Menhan) :pernah menjabat wakil pemimpin perusahaan Western Oil. Dia juga merupakan partner Bush di perusahaan Enron Energy. Perusahaan ini menjadi perusahaan pertama Amerika dalam rangkaian ambruknya perusahaan-perusahaan Amerika setelah kejahatan keuangan yang menenggelamkannya pada akhir tahun 2001.
• Pusat Keamanan Publik: sekitar 100 orang pejabat di pemerintahan Bush yang pertama, mereka menanamkan investasinya yang mencapai 144,6 juta dolar AS di sektor migas

http://www.hizbut-tahrir.or.id/2008/04/11/demokrasi-as-dan-politik-uang/

"Prof UIN Jakarta Halalkan Homoseksual”

Selasa, 01 April 2008

Professor UIN berpendapat, katanya Islam mengakui homoseksualitas. Dulu ia pernah mendapat “puja-puji” Amerika. Baca Catatan Akhir Pekan [CAP] Adian Husaini ke-230

Oleh: Adian Husaini

Harian The Jakarta Post, edisi Jumat (28/3/2008) pada halaman mukanya menerbitkan sebuah berita berjudul Islam 'recognizes homosexuality' (Islam mengakui homoseksualitas). Mengutip pendapat dari Prof. Dr. Siti Musdah Mulia, guru besar di UIN Jakarta, koran berbahasa Inggris itu menulis bahwa homoseksual dan homoseksualitas adalah alami dan diciptakan oleh Tuhan, karena itu dihalalkan dalam Islam. (Homosexuals and homosexuality are natural and created by God, thus permissible within Islam).

Menurut Musdah, para sarjana Muslim moderat berpendapat, bahwa tidak ada alasan untuk menolak homoseksual. Dan bahwasanya pengecaman terhadap homoseksual atau homoseksualitas oleh kalangan ulama aurus utama dan kalangan Muslim lainnya hanyalah didasarkan pada penafsiran sempit terhadap ajaran Islam. Tepatnya, ditulis oleh Koran ini: “Moderate Muslim scholars said there were no reasons to reject homosexuals under Islam, and that the condemnation of homosexuals and homosexuality by mainstream ulema and many other Muslims was based on narrow-minded interpretations of Islamic teachings.”

Mengutip QS 49 ayat 3, Musdah menyatakan, salah satu berkah Tuhan adalah bahwasanya semua manusia, baik laki-laki atau wanita, adalah sederajat, tanpa memandang etnis, kekayaan, posisi social atau pun orientasi seksual. Karena itu, aktivis liberal dan kebebasan beragama dari ICRP (Indonesia Conference of Religions and Peace) ini, “Tidak ada perbedaan antara lesbian dengan non-lesbian. Dalam pandangan Tuhan, manusia dihargai hanya berdasarkan ketaatannya.” (There is no difference between lesbians and nonlesbians. In the eyes of God, people are valued based on their piety).

Demikian pendapat guru besar UIN Jakarta ini dalam diskusi yang diselenggarakan suatu organisasi bernama “Arus Pelangi”, di Jakarta, Kamis (27/3/2008).

Menurut Musdah Mulia, intisari ajaran Islam adalah memanusiakan manusia dan menghormati kedaulatannya. Lebih jauh ia katakan, bahwa homoseksualitas adalah berasal dari Tuhan, dan karena itu harus diakui sebagai hal yang alamiah.

The Jakarta Post juga mengutip pendapat seorang pembicara bernama Nurofiah, yang menyatakan, bahwa pandangan dominan dalam masyarakat Islam tentang heterogenitas adalah sebuah “konstruksi sosial”, sehingga berakibat pada pelarangan homoseksualitas oleh kaum mayoritas. Ini sama dengan kasus ”bias gender” akibat dominasi budaya patriarki. Karena itu, katanya, akan berbeda jika yang berkuasa adalah kaum homoseks. Lebih tepatnya, dikutip ucapan aktivis gender ini: "Like gender bias or patriarchy, heterogeneity bias is socially constructed. It would be totally different if the ruling group was homosexuals."

Diskusi tentang homoseksual itu pun menghadirkan pembicara dari Majelis Ulama Indonesia dan Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia. Kedua organisasi ini, oleh The Jakarta Post, sudah dicap sebagai “kelompok Muslim konservatif”. Ditulis oleh Koran ini: Condemnation of homosexuality was voiced by two conservative Muslim groups, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Hizbut Thahir Indonesia (HTI).”

Amir Syarifuddin, pengurus MUI, menyatakan bahwa praktik homoseksual adalah dosa. “Kami tidak akan menganggap homoseksualitas sebagai musuh, tetapi kami akan membuat mereka sadar bahwa apa yang mereka lakukan adalah salah,” kata Amir Syarifudin.

Demikianlah berita tentang penghalalan homoseksual oleh sejumlah aktivis liberal, sebagaimana dikutip oleh The Jakarta Post.

Jika kita rajin menyimak perkembangan pemikiran liberal, baik di kalangan Yahudi, Kristen, maupun Islam, maka kita tidak akan heran dengan berita yang dimuat di Harian The Jakarta Post ini. Kaum Yahudi Liberal, juga Kristen Liberal, sudah lama menghalalkan perkawinan sesama jenis. Bahkan, banyak cendekiawan dan tokoh agama mereka yang sudah secara terbuka mendeklarasikan sebagai orang-orang homoseks dan lesbian. Banyak diantara mereka yang bahkan sudah menyelenggarakan perkawinan sesama jenis di dalam tempat ibadah mereka masing-masing.

Bagi kaum Yahudi dan Kristen liberal, hal seperti itu sudah dianggap biasa. Mereka juga menyatakan, bahwa apa yang mereka lakukan adalah sejalan dengan ajaran Bibel. Mereka pun menuduh kaum Yahudi dan Kristen lain sebagai ”ortodoks”, ”konservatif” dan sejenisnya, karena tidak mau mengakui dan mengesahkan praktik homoseksual. Gereja Katolik, misalnya, tetap mempertahankan doktrinnya yang menolak praktik homoseksual. Tahun 1975, Vatikan mengeluarkan keputusan bertajuk ”The Vatican Declaration on Sexual Ethics.” Isinya, antara lain menegaskan: ”It (Scripture) does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of.” Dalam Pidatonya pada malam Tahun Baru 2006, Paus Benediktus XVI juga menegaskan kembali tentang terkutuknya perilaku homoseksual.

Dalam Islam, soal homoseksual ini sudah jelas hukumnya. Meskipun sudah sejak dulu ada orang-orang yang orientasi seksualnya homoseks, ajaran Islam tetap tidak berubah, dan tidak mengikuti hawa nafsu kaum homo atau pendukungnya. Tidak ada ulama atau dosen agama yang berani menghalalkan tindakan homoseksual, seperti yang dilakukan oleh Prof. Siti Musdah Mulia dari UIN Jakarta tersebut.

Nabi Muhammad saw bersabda, “Siapa saja yang menemukan pria pelaku homoseks, maka bunuhlah pelakunya tersebut.” (HR Abu Dawud, at-Tirmizi, an-Nasai, Ibnu Majah, al-Hakim, dan al-Baihaki). Imam Syafii berpendapat, bahwa pelaku homoseksual harus dirajam (dilempari batu sampai mati) tanpa membedakan apakah pelakunya masih bujangan atau sudah menikah.

Sejak terbitnya Jurnal Justisia dari Fakultas Syariah IAIN Semarang (edisi 25, Th XI, 2004), yang menghalalkan homoseksual, kita sudah mengingatkan para pimpinan kampus Islam agar lebih serius dalam menangani penyebaran paham liberal di kampus mereka. Sebab, virus liberal ini semakin menampakkan daya rusaknya terhadap aqidah dan pemikiran Islam. Ironisnya, fenomena ini justru digerakkan dari sejumlah akademisi di kampus-kampus berlabel Islam.

Kita ingat kembali, bahwa dalam Jurnal Justisia tersebut, dilakukan kampanye besar-besaran untuk mengesahkan perkawinan homoseksual. Jurnal itu kemudian diterbitkan menjadi sebuah buku berjudul Indahnya Kawin Sesama Jenis: Demokratisasi dan Perlindungan Hak-hak Kaum Homoseksual, (Semarang:Lembaga Studi Sosial dan Agama/eLSA, 2005).

Dalam buku tersebut dijelaskan strategi gerakan yang harus dilakukan untuk melegalkan perkawinan homoseksual di Indonesia, yaitu (1) mengorganisir kaum homoseksual untuk bersatu dan berjuang merebut hak-haknya yang telah dirampas oleh negara, (2) memberi pemahaman kepada masyarakat bahwa apa yang terjadi pada diri kaum homoseksual adalah sesuatu yang normal dan fithrah, sehingga masyarakat tidak mengucilkannya bahkan sebaliknya, masyarakat ikut terlibat mendukung setiap gerakan kaum homoseksual dalam menuntut hak-haknya, (3) melakukan kritik dan reaktualisasi tafsir keagamaan (tafsir kisah Luth dan konsep pernikahan) yang tidak memihak kaum homoseksual, (4) menyuarakan perubahan UU Perkawinan No 1/1974 yang mendefinisikan perkawinan harus antara laki-laki dan wanita.” (hal. 15)

Sebagaimana Prof. Musdah Mulia, para penulis dalam buku itu pun mengecam keras pihak-pihak yang masih mengharamkan homoseksual. Seorang penulis dalam buku ini, misalnya, menyatakan, bahwa pengharaman nikah sejenis adalah bentuk kebodohan umat Islam generasi sekarang karena ia hanya memahami doktrin agamanya secara given, taken for granted, tanpa ada pembacaan ulang secara kritis atas doktrin tersebut. Si penulis kemudian mengaku bersikap kritis dan curiga terhadap motif Nabi Luth dalam mengharamkan homoseksual, sebagaimana diceritakan dalam Al-Quran surat al-A’raf :80-84 dan Hud :77-82). Semua itu, katanya, tidak lepas dari faktor kepentingan Luth itu sendiri, yang gagal menikahkan anaknya dengan dua laki-laki, yang kebetulan homoseks.

Ditulis dalam buku ini sebagai berikut:

‘’Karena keinginan untuk menikahkan putrinya tidak kesampaian, tentu Luth amat kecewa. Luth kemudian menganggap kedua laki-laki tadi tidak normal. Istri Luth bisa memahami keadaan laki-laki tersebut dan berusaha menyadarkan Luth. Tapi, oleh Luth, malah dianggap istri yang melawan suami dan dianggap mendukung kedua laki-laki yang dinilai Luth tidak normal. Kenapa Luth menilai buruk terhadap kedua laki-laki yang kebetulan homo tersebut? Sejauh yang saya tahu, Al-Quran tidak memberi jawaban yang jelas. Tetapi kebencian Luth terhadap kaum homo disamping karena faktor kecewa karena tidak berhasil menikahkan kedua putrinya juga karena anggapan Luth yang salah terhadap kaum homo.” (hal. 39)

Padahal, tentang Kisah Nabi Luth a.s. Al-Quran sudah memberikan gambaran jelas bagaimana terkutuknya kaum Nabi Luth yang merupakan pelaku homoseksual ini:

“Dan (Kami juga telah mengutus) Luth (kepada kaumnya). (Ingatlah) tatkala dia berkata kepada kaumnya: “Mengapa kalian mengerjakan perbuatan fahisyah itu, yang belum pernah dikerjakan oleh seorang pun sebelum kalian. Sesungguhnya kalian mendatangi laki-laki untuk melepaskan syahwat, bukan kepada wanita; malah kalian ini kaum yang melampaui batas. Jawab kaumnya tidak lain hanya mengatakan: “Usirlah mereka dari kotamu ini, sesungguhnya mereka adalah orang-orang yang berpura-pura mensucikan diri. Kemudian Kami selamatkan dia dan pengikut-pengikutnya kecuali istrinya; dia termasuk orang-orang yang tertinggal (dibinasakan). Dan Kami turunkan kepada mereka hujan (batu); maka perhatikanlah bagaimana kesudahan orang-orang yang berdosa itu.” (QS Al-A’raf:80-84).

Karena itu, para mufassir Al-Quran selama ratusan tahun tidak ada yang berpendapat seperti anak-anak syariah dari IAIN Semarang itu atau seperti Prof. Musdah Mulia yang berani menghalalkan homoseksual. Gerakan legalisasi homoseksual yang dilakukan oleh kaum liberal di Indonesia sebenarnya sudah melampaui batas. Bagi umat Islam, hal seperti ini merupakan sesuatu yang tidak terpikirkan (“unthought”). Bagaimana mungkin, dari kampus berlabel Islam justru muncul dosen dan mahasiswa yang berani menghalalkan homoseksual, suatu tindakan bejat yang selama ribuan tahun dikutuk oleh agama. Gerakan legalisasi homoseksual dari lingkungan kampus Islam tidak bisa dipandang sebelah mata. Tindakan ini merupakan kemungkaran yang jauh lebih bahaya dari gerakan legalisasi homoseks yang selama ini sudah gencar dilakukan kaum homoseksual sendiri.

Dalam catatan penutup buku karya anak-anak Fakultas Syariah IAIN Semarang tersebut, dimuat tulisan berjudul “Homoseksualitas dan Pernikahan Gay: Suara dari IAIN”. Penulisnya, mengaku bernama Mumu, mencatat, “Ya, kita tentu menyambut gembira upaya yang dilakukan oleh Fakultas Syariah IAIN Walisongo tersebut.”

Juga dikatakan dalam buku tersebut: “Hanya orang primitif saja yang melihat perkawinan sejenis sebagai sesuatu yang abnormal dan berbahaya. Bagi kami, tiada alasan kuat bagi siapapun dengan dalih apapun, untuk melarang perkawinan sejenis. Sebab, Tuhan pun sudah maklum, bahwa proyeknya menciptakan manusia sudah berhasil bahkan kebablasan.”

Logika ini sejalan dengan jalan pemikiran Musdah Mulia yang menyatakan bahwa pelarangan homoseksual hanyalah didasarkan pada penafsiran sempit terhadap ajaran Islam. Barangkali, seperti dikatakan Nurofiah, jika suatu ketika nanti kaum homoseksual sudah menjadi dominan, maka mereka akan memandang bahwa kaum heteroseksual adalah suatu kelainan. Inilah pandangan yang ‘keblinger’, yang lahir dari kekeliruan berpikir.

Sebagaimana kasus perkawinan antara muslimah dan laki-laki non-Muslim yang didukung dan dipenghului oleh sejumlah dosen UIN Jakarta, kita patut khawatir, bahwa para akademisi liberal itu semakin menjadi-jadi tindakannya, dengan menjadi penghulu bagi perkawinan sesama jenis. Kita berharap hal itu tidak terjadi, meskipun Prof. Dr. Musdah Mulia sudah melontarkan pendapatnya tentang homoseksual secara terbuka di media massa. Memang, jika orang sudah hilang rasa malunya, maka dia akan berbuat semaunya sendiri. Mungkin dia merasa sudah hebat, sudah jadi guru besar pemikiran Islam di suatu kampus Islam terkenal. Selama ini pun, orang-orang terdekatnya pun tidak mampu menghentikan kegiatannya.

Namun, jika kita ikuti kisah perjalanan intelektual Prof. Musdah Mulia, kita sebenarnya tidak terlalu heran. Sejak awal, cara berpikirnya sudah kacau. Dia seenaknya sendiri mengubah-ubah hukum Islam, untuk disesuaikan dengan cara pandang dan cara hidup Barat. Tidak aneh, jika karena sepak terjangnya yang seperti itu, tahun lalu, pada Hari Perempuan Dunia tanggal 8 Maret 2007, Musdah Mulia menerima penghargaan International Women of Courage dari Menteri Luar Negeri Condoleezza Rice di kantor kementerian luar negeri Amerika Serikat (AS), Washington. Ia dianggap sukses menyuarakan, membela dan mengembalikan hak perempuan di mata agama dengan cara melakukan 'pembaruan hukum Islam' – termasuk-- undang-undang perkawinan.

Mungkin, setelah mendukung praktik homoseksual ini, dia akan mendapatkan pujian dan penghargaan jauh lebih tinggi lagi dari "kalangan tertentu." Kita tunggu saja! [Depok, 30 Maret 2008/www.hidayatullah.com]

Catatan Akhir Pekan Adian Husaini adalah hasil kerjasama antara Radio Dakta 107 FM dan www.hidayatullah.com

Spins : Poligami dia hujat, homo dia bela...sekali lagi...apa siiiih maunyaaaa ?!

Jumat, 18 April 2003

Semaraknya TV yang menyuguhkan tarian erotisme dan pornografi menurut Sirikit belakangan ini terus bertambah deras, tak lepas dari kesengajaan media tersebut memilihkannya untuk penonton.

Sirikit Syah (39). Nama yang sudah tidak asing di mata pengamat dan pengkritik media massa Indonesia. Melalui Lembaga Konsumen Media (LKM) yang ia dirikan bersama beberapa kawannya yang terdiri dari kalangan pers dan akademisi, Sirikit sibuk memantau dan mengkaji liputan dan tulisan-tulisan yang dimuat di berbagai media massa. Selain menjadi media watch, setiap bulan LKM menerbitkan news letter yang bisa dinikmati masyakat. Bahkan untuk urusan media watch ini, seminggu sekali wanita yang juga mantan freelancer The Jakarta Post ini melalui Radio Suara Surabaya (SS) harus melayani pertanyaan masyakat yang berisi keluhan atau kritikan terhadap pers.

Di rumahnya, di kompleks perumahan Rungkut Asri, Surabaya yang juga sebagai kantor LKM Hidayatullah Online mewawancarainya seputar merebaknya erotisme dan pornogradi di berbagai media terutama TV.

Omong-omong, apa pendapat anda tentang erotisme dan budaya buka aurat dalam media massa belakangan ini?

Saya sangat setuju dengan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammad yang memberikan sensor pada media massa. Mungkin, bagi banyak kawan, Sirikit menghambat kebebasan pers. Tapi sekali lagi tidak. Sebab kebebasan pers tidak ada hubungannya dengan erotisme. Banyak orang mengatakan, model Malaysia dan Singapura itu jelek. Tapi saya juga heran, kenapa kita selalu menganggap Amerika itu terbaik dibanding Malaysia atau Singapura?. Saya sempat dengar lirik lagu Janet Jackson sempat dicekal di Malaysia dan Singapura karena dianggap mengundang birahi dan seks. Padahal hanya liriknya saja. Yang terakhir, saya senang ketika Indonesia mencekal lirik lagu ‘dirty’ dari Cristina Aquilera. Makanya saya kecewa kenapa xxx (menyebut penyanyi dangdut erotis asal Pasuruan Jawa Timur) dibiarkan.

Kalau mau para bapak dan anak-anak muda menikmati goyangan xxx, silahkan saja di tempat tertutup yang hanya dihadiri kalangan terbatas. Sebab goyangan xxx yang ditampilkan banyak televisi –dan saya sudah lihat semua VCD nya—hampir sama persis dengan tarian seks erotis streaptease --tarian telanjang ala Barat yang sering ditampilkan secara life di depan penonoton-- yang pernah saya lihat saat saya mendapat beasiswa di Amerika atau di Jepang saat saya masih bekerja sebagai wartawan di SCTV dahulu. Jadi goyang si xxx itu ya mirip begitu.

Kalau mau begitu, silahkan di tempat terbatas. Bukan di panggung, di depan audience umum, apalagi di depan TV yang audience nya adalah banyak orang diantaranya ada anak kecil.

Sebagai seorang ibu sekaligus pengamat media massa, apa yang meresahkan anda dengan femona erotisme media massa yang dicontohkan si XXX tadi?

Yang mencemaskan adalah akan adanya imitasi atau peniruan. Kita ini bangsa yang baru yang belum matang dan terdidik. Ada seorang suami cerai gara-gara selalu nonton si xxx itu. Ada seorang kakek memperkosa gara-gara nonton dia jugal. Hal-hal seperti ini, kalau kita mau membuka kliping, banyak di Surabaya.

Tapi para sosiolog minta tidak usah mendengarkan sedikit contoh karena tidak mayoritas. Bagaimana orang pandai seperti para sosiolog bisa membutakan mata atas kejadian penting yang bisa menimpa banyak orang?. Ada yang berdalih, “Ini adalah geliat kaum miskin kota”, “Ini geliat gender”.

Tapi aneh-aneh para pembelanya. Ada yang bilang melarang sama halnya melarang hak kaum permpuan atau fenomena itu digambarkan sebagai geliat kaum marjinal perempuan dan gender. Alasan apa itu! Kalau geliat kaum marginal, mbok biarkan anak jalanan dan pengamen yang biAsa di buru dan dikejar-kejar itu memenuhi jalan raya dan kota-kota besar. Jadi yang berdalih itu menurut common sense itu tidak make sense.

Kalau banyak yang bilang itu selera harusnya tidak memaksakan untuk semua orang. Apalagi anak kecil. Dan tak usah menggunakan pembenaran-pembenaran yang tidak masuk akal. Kalau alasannya rakyat suka pornografi, apa boleh kita jual hal-hal berbau pornografi di mana-mana?. Jadi di mana batas pembenarannya?

Sejauh ini, imitasi atas media massa itu sampai mana?

Sekarang semua media massa di TV itu, para penyanyi dangdutnya sudah mulai ada perubahan dalam hal goyangan. Lihat saja, setelah si xxx, penyanyi-penyanyi dangdut malah semakin berani.

Yang berperan besar untuk membesarkan goyangan xxx, pornografi dan erotisme, ya media massa terutama televisi. Saya beberapa kali terlibat debat dengan para pengelola media massa. Ada sebuah penanggungjawab koran di salah satu media massa berdalih begini, “Kami hanya melayani masyakarat. Karena umumnya masyarakat suka”. Saya jawab, “Tidak, sama sekali tidak. Sebab, anda melalui media massa bisa memilih yang terbaik. Dan anda telah memilihkan yang itu (hal-hal erotis, red)”, jawab saya. (cha)

dari hidayatullah.com

Seseorang ditembak mati karena penggunaan bahasa. Seorang menteri di
pemerintahan Israel itu sebelumnya berpidato yang dikutip media
massa, bahwa "Bangsa Arab itu adalah two-legged beasts (binatang
berkaki dua). Bahkan melihat caranya beranak pinak, mereka sama
dengan lice (kutu)." Tak berapa lama kemudian, dia ditembak mati oleh
gerilyawan Palestina.

Tak terhitung perang antar suku, antar bangsa, kerusuhan di kota
besar yang plural, disebabkan oleh penggunaan bahasa. Hate speech.
Pernyataan kebencian. Di Pasuruan, misalnya, tahun 1996, seorang
pendeta menerbitkan selebaran gereja yang mengatakan "Nabi Muhammad
adalah buta huruf penghuni goa." Maka terjadilah kerusuhan dan
pembakaran sejumlah gereja di wilayah Pasuruan hingga ke Situbondo,
yang tentu saja pemberitaannya tak seheboh di era reformasi karena
kami -para redaktur- dipanggil Bakortanasda dan diwanti-wanti untuk
tidak melaporkannya. Atau kalau terpaksa dimuat, muatlah di halaman
belakang, tanpa foto. Crew TV, jangan ekspos wajah sang pendeta, dst.

Sampai sekarang surat kabar prestisius The Christian Science Monitor
tak mau menggunakan kata "insurgent" untuk me-label gerilyawan Irak.
Kata redakturnya, "Insurgent itu artinya pemberontak pada
pemerintahan yang sah. Lha, di Irak ini, mana pemerintahannya yang
sah?" Sementara itu, ketika terjadi serangan 9/11 2001, CNN dalam
pemberitaannya menggunakan banner "America under Attack". Ketika
menyerang Afghanistan, CNN menggunakan banner "War on Terrorism".
Betapa tidak adilnya. Mengapa tidak "America Attacks Back",
atau "Afghanistan under Attack too".

Kalau saja semua media berperilaku santun dan menghormatti bahasa
seperti the Christian Science Monitor, mungkin Jake Lynch dan Annabel
McGoldryck tak perlu meneruskan kampanye Johan Galtung tentang
perlunya Peace Journalism. Dalam ajaran mereka (kami telah melatih
lebih dari 200 wartawan di wilayah konflik di Indonesia dalam kurun
waktu 2000-2002), penggunaan bahasa merupakan salah satu faktor
penting pemicu konflik. Peace Journalism menganjurkan wartawan
menghilangkan sterotye (seperti contoh di atas tentang bangsa Arab),
membuang label (Tomy Winata marah besar kepada Tempo ketika disebut
pemulung), menghilangkan kata sifat, tidak menggunakan kata-kata
konotatif atau bermakna ganda, tidak hiperbola, dan seterusnya.

Media massa suka menulis adanya massacre (pembantaian) untuk sebuah
pertempuran antar suku atau bahkan sekadar pembunuhan. Padahal yang
dimaksud pembantaian hanya bila korban berjumlah banyak, dan para
korban itu sedang tidak sadar akan diserang, dan tidak membawa
senjata. Kalau para korban itu tengah berjaga-jaga dengan membawa
senjata, itu bukan pembantaian, itu pertempuran. Apalagi kalau sopir
angkot Kristen berkelahi dengan preman Islam, lalu keduanya terbunuh.
Ini bukan pembantaian Islam atas Kristen atau sebaliknya (kasus
konflik Ambon).

Media massa juga suka menggunakan kata 'sadis'. Misalnya, "Perempuan
itu membunuh pemerkosanya dengan sadis." Perempuan itu korban
perkosaan dan dia membunuh karena membela diri. Tentu tidak sama
dengan perbuatan yang dapat dikatagorikan 'sadis', seperti membunuh
karena merampok, mencuri, atau balas dendam, melakukan mutilasi pada
tubuh korban dengan penuh kesadaran, menikmati proses pembunuhan, dst.

Pemimpin Redaksi Harian Rakyat Merdeka Jakarta divonis bersalah oleh
pengadilan dan dihukum penjara hanya karena penggunaan bahasa yang
ceroboh (menggunakan metafor untuk tokoh riil). RM menulis "Mulut
Mega bau solar" dan "Mega lebih kejam daripada Sumanto".

Bahasa dan logika

Salah satu syarat utama menjadi wartawan seharusnya penguasaannya
atas bahasa, bukan sekadar ketrampilannya melakukan wawancara (lihat
hasilnya di talk show TV dan radio, bagaimana mereka menjadikan diri
mereka pusat perhatian dengan kelincahannya 'menginterogasi'
narasumber). Masih sering kita baca: "Pencuri itu berhasil ditangkap
polisi". Siapa yang berhasil? Kalau pencuri berhasil, dia tak akan
ditangkap polisi, bukan? Pernah juga saya dengar di televisi: "Sistem
lalu lintas yang baru ini dapat memperlancar kemacetan." Kemacetan
kok diperlancar?

Beberapa surat kabar menuai gugatan hanya karena menulis "koruptor",
bukannya "diduga korupsi". Untuk kasus Laksamana Sukardi, beberapa
media menulis "Lari", atau "Kabur". Harian Nusa menulis judul "Laks
Diisukan Kabur". Bahasa yang digunakan Nusa sudah benar, tapi karena
Laks terlanjur marah, Nusa digugat juga.

Noam Chomsky, linguist yang sangat kritis terhadap media barat, terus
menerus mencatat penggunaan bahasa yang menyesatkan oleh media barat.
Salah satu bukunya "International Terrorism" banyak mengupas pilihan
kata media barat yang justru menimbulkan kekisruhan dunia. Dia
menandai bagaimana seorang anak pelempar batu di Palestina
disebut "teroris" dan tentara Israel menggempur kamp pengungsian
disebut "tindakan pencegahan". Siapa pula yang diberi label "Negara
Arab Moderat" (tentu saja yang setuju dengan kebijakan AS!) dan siapa
yang "fundamentalis".

Filsuf China Kong Hu Cu (Confusius, 1551-479 SM), ketika ditanya "Apa
yang pertama kali dilakukan, seandainya terpilih menjadi pemimpin
negara?", menjawab, "Tentu saja meluruskan bahasa." Jawaban ini
mengejutkan. Lalu dia menjabarkan: "Jika bahasa tidak lurus, apa yang
dikatakan bukanlah apa yang dimaksudkan. Jika yang dikatakan bukan
yang dimaksudkan, apa yang seharusnya diperbuat tidak diperbuat. Jika
tidak diperbuat, moral dan seni merosot. Jika moral dan seni merosot,
keadilan akan tidak jelas arahnya. Jika keadilan tidak jelas arahnya,
rakyat hanya berdiri dalam kebingungan yang tak tertolong. Maka, tak
boleh ada kesewnang-wenangan dengan apa yang dikatan. Ini paling
penting di atas segala-galanya."

Pada akhir tahun 2002, sebuah perhelatan Miss World membuat 200 orang
tewas dan puluhan bangunan hancur di Nigeria. Pasalnya, publik yang
mayoritas Islam telah menolak penyelenggaraan Miss World itu. Apalagi
di bulan Ramadhan. Namun pemerintah tetap mengizinkan pelaksanannya.
Mengkritik para pemrotes kontes Miss World itu, seorang penulis
menulis di harian Today. "Seandainya Nabi Muhammad masih hidup,
mungkin dia akan memilih satu di antara kontestan untuk menjadi
istrinya." Rakyat marah, terjadi kerusuhan, bentrokan dengan tentara,
200 orang tewas, puluhan mobil dan bangunan dibakar. Contoh ini
menggambarkan apa yang dimaksudkan oleh Kong Hu Cu. Kepala negara,
penulis yang berpengaruh, jurnalis, mesti hati-hati menggunakan
bahasa. Bila bahasa tidak lurus (Nabi Muhammad tidak pernah
memperistri orang karena daya tarik fisik!), dunia kisruh dan porak
poranda. Nigeria telah mengalaminya.

Seorang kawan mengatakan, "Bahasa adalah dasar peradaban. Pembentuk
karakter. Alat ukur logika. Persoalan pendidikan di Indonesia adalah
lemahnya pengajaran bahasa. Tanpa penguasaan bahasa, sains dan
tehnologi mustahil berkembang." Anda tentu mengira kawan saya itu
seorang ahli atau sarjana bahasa. Bukan. Dia seorang insinyur.
Menurutnya, insinyur adalah manager, dan manager mesti menggunakan
bahasa yang benar agar komunikasi efektif dan pekerjaan berjalan
lancar. Tulisan ini saya persembahkan untuk dia sebagai penghormatan
saya atas penghormatannya terhadap bahasa.

Sirikit Syah
Waka Stikosa-AWS


Sejak sekolah dasar kita semua diajari bahwa "Bahasa menunjukkan
bangsa". Namun tak pernah kita diingatkan bahwa "Bahasa menunjukkan
siapa Anda."

Dimuat di http://mediacare.blogspot.com oleh radityo pada 9 Januari 2005

CHINESE TORTURE IN EAST TURKESTAN

It has been shown in the preceding sections that the lands of East Turkestan have been Muslim for the last 1,000 years. Yet for more than half a century now, it has been living under occupation by the Chinese administration. A graffiti on a door at the University of Urumchi, described by Andrew Higgins (correspondent of The Independent) as "sheer racial venom" clearly reflects the Chinese view of the Uighur Turks:

Make Uyghur men our slaves forever and take Uyghur women as prostitutes for generations.25

China maintains up to 1 million soldiers under arms in the region, and controls everything that the Muslims in East Turkestan do. All vehicles are stopped at military checkpoints set up along the roads, the men are sometimes insulted and slapped about as their cars are searched, and Muslim women are abused. Chinese pressure is not restricted to stopping vehicles or frequent house searches by the military. The June 29, 2000 edition of the Japanese Mainichi Daily News described the oppression in the following terms:

Chinese control [over East Turkestan] grows ever tighter and more intolerable. People's Liberation Army soldiers are everywhere. Travel and attendance at mosques are restricted. Communications are primitive and policed. Few farm villages have telephones, and urban phones are liable to be tapped. One can be jailed for years on mere suspicion of subversion.26

Muslims are arrested on invalid grounds and sent off to labor camps, executed on groundless charges, and from time to time murdered en masse. They are not allowed to fast, and are prevented from receiving religious instruction. The method used to stop the Muslim population from growing is utterly inhuman: Women are forced to have abortions, and the children of those who have more than one child are taken away from them.

In the face of all this cruelty and oppression, the people of East Turkestan have no means of protecting themselves or their rights. Muslims all over the world can help these defenseless people in many different ways. All measures to allow the voice of the people of East Turkestan to be heard and to attract the attention of international organizations are important.

The greatest assistance that can be given is to wage a struggle on the level of ideas to destroy the atheism that all that oppression stems from, and replace it with a just and proper morality. In that way, not just the Muslims of East Turkestan but all those who are wickedly killed all over the world, or are forced from their homelands just for saying, "God is our Lord," or can be helped.

All believers share an equal responsibility in this matter. God reveals in a verse, ". Whoever strives does it entirely for himself." (Qur'an, 29:6). In another verse, He describes the responsibility that falls to believers in these terms: "Would that there had been more people with a vestige of good among the generations of those who came before you, who forbade corruption in the Earth." (Qur'an, 11:116) Preventing evil in this world is the common duty of all people of conscience.

The Chinese army controls East Turkestan with an iron hand. The Muslims' lives are rigidly controlled, and those whom the Communist Party regards as a threat are arrested.

THE STRUCTURE OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY

Communist ideology maintains that matter has no beginning or end, denies the existence of God, and rejects all spiritual values. It has been put into practice in a number of different countries, yet every time it has ended up inflicting terrible suffering. The reason for this is communist ideology's view of life and human beings. This is communist ideology's world view and the general structure of those societies in which it has been practiced:

-In communist societies, human beings are regarded as advanced forms of animal, based on Darwin's theory of evolution. For that reason, society is seen as a large herd of animals, and little value is ascribed to human beings.

- The logic of "There are many members of the herd, so one fewer does not matter" prevails. The mentality which regards life as a "struggle for survival," sees nothing wrong with the elimination of the weak. On the contrary, it regards it as necessary. Selfishness is its defining feature. The crippled or those who cannot work are expelled from the herd and left to die.

- Just like animals in a herd, society is made up of one type of human being. People are made to dress, think and speak alike. There is little room for different cultures, beliefs or ideas.

- Individuals' contributions to society are more important than their own interests. Tireless workers and peasants are the ideal. The system is based solely on the material concepts of work and production. The logic of "production strengthens the herd" rules.

The communist regime's ideal is an entirely homogenous society. The damage done by communist ideology, which attaches little worth to human beings and regards society as no more than a herd of animals, is even reflected in people's faces.

- No account is ever taken of human characteristics or proper morality. There is little room in communist societies for human feelings such as forgiveness, compassion, faith or love.

- Since fear of God is systematically destroyed, people are held back from committing crimes mostly because they fear the system itself. That is why an improper action can be committed if the system will not see it, or if the culprit will not be punished. Theft, prostitution, murder and moral degeneration are widespread in communist societies.

Under communism people are only of value if they produce. They must therefore work like machines to benefit the system. According to this twisted view, those who are not productive are condemned to be eliminated.

- According to communist ideology, which rejects belief in the hereafter, people cease to exist when they die. That explains why people do everything in their power to stay alive and remain strong. Since they believe they are engaged in a struggle for survival and see everyone else as a rival, they can easily perpetrate all kinds of evil in their own interests.

In communist societies, good workers are the ideal human beings. People work in terrible conditions and under the command of oppressive leaders, and face severe punishment for the slightest infringement of the rules.

CHINA'S EAST TURKESTAN POLICY CANNOT BE SEEN AS
INDEPENDENT OF COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY

China's policy on East Turkestan is a general reflection of communist ideology. That is why it is impossible to evaluate what is going on in East Turkestan independently of that ideology. Similar cruelty and oppression is inflicted on different individuals and communities all over China, which shows that a totalitarian structure is an inseparable part of communism. In this section we shall, therefore, be considering the cruelty and suffering inflicted by China's ideology and its despotic regime on its own people, as well as the suffering of the people of East Turkestan.

Collections of the words of Mao were the people's only guides in communist China. In some posters, Mao compares himself to Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

THE DEATH TOLL OF MAO ZE TUNG'S ADMINISTRATION: 40 MILLION DEAD The teachings of Mao, based on ruthlessness and brutality, led to the death of millions.

All regimes that are hostile to religion resort to pressure and violence in order to keep themselves in power. The most oppressive, dictatorial regimes have always oppressed, even despised, the people who resisted their policies. From this point of view there is little difference between Pharaoh and Hitler, Hitler and Stalin, or Stalin and Mao. None of these leaders had any hesitation about killing innocent people and ordering terrible slaughter for the sake of power and their own ideologies. Just like the others, Mao set up concentration camps in order to strengthen the communist regime, turned them into torture centers, and had millions of people who failed to think like him ruthlessly killed.

Nothing in the Chinese government's policy of oppression changed during the time of Deng Xiaoping (above), who came to power after Mao.

The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, was built upon totalitarian despotism, intense bureaucracy, and a system of state control of all resources and means of production. The disasters brought about by Mao's economic policies and his policies of restricted famine led to enormous loss of life and a general collapse. Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, hoped to put the economy right by carrying out economic reforms and opened the country up to foreign investors and a liberal economy. Yet those economic improvements only benefited the top levels of the state machinery. The people of China benefited very little. Moreover, despite the trend towards a liberal economy there was very little equivalent political or social progress. No matter how much people talk about "the old communist system" with regard to China, and claim that communism has come to an end, the facts disprove this claim.

China is still run by a totalitarian mentality that has its roots in Mao's vision of communism. The reforms in the economic field have not brought about any major changes in the minds of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

A large part of the economic progress and revenues are used to increase the repression of the population and to silence the voices of opposition. China currently has the highest capital punishment rate of any country in the world. Furthermore, it is perhaps the only country in which executions are turned into public spectacles, and where the internal organs of those executed are removed without their permission and sold for profit, where pregnant women are forced to have abortions. There are more than 1,000 labor camps in the country, and those detained in them are systematically tortured.

Only Communist Party officials benefit from the economic liberalization in China, and the people as a whole continue to live in hunger and poverty.

EXECUTIONS IN CHINA ARE JUST A ROUTINE MATTER

The death penalty is an important control mechanism of the Red Chinese regime. The famous Chinese dissident Harry Wu describes the situation in his country as follows:

Party leaders accused of supporting capitalism are first put on public display, and then are executed.

The dictatorship is tightly associated with violence and has even grown dependent on it. It practices the Chinese idiom of "Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey." The public education carried out by sentencing rallies and mass executions shows the Party's reliance on public violence.27

Although it is impossible to specify the exact number, millions of people have executed by the Red Chinese regime. Most figures are based on estimates, although the latest research has revealed that the number of people killed is much higher than was previously believed. The fact that the communist regime regards executions and murder as one of its basic principles is well known. In a confidential document dated May 16, 1951, Mao revealed that the number of people to be killed had been established in line with a definite quota:

Talking about the number of counter-revolutionaries to be killed, a certain proportion must be set. In rural areas, it should not exceed 1/1000 of the population. In killing counter-revolutionaries in the urban areas, generally it should be below 1/1,000 of the population; the number .5/1000 seems appropriate. For example, among the 2,000,000 people of Peking, over 600 were killed. Another 300 are planned to be killed. A total number of 1,000 will be enough. It is still necessary to kill other big batches and we must do all we can do to kill two thirds of those who are predetermined to be killed by the end of July. 28

When planning his massacres, Mao saw no need to prove that the person to be killed actually committed a crime. He regarded killing as necessary simply because of the fear it would instill in society, and saw that number of executions as a "matter of quotas." Another example of this way of thinking is found in Stalin's famous statement: "the death of one person is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."29 As a result of the communist Stalin's "statistical" murders, an estimated 40 million innocent people lost their lives.

Mao had no hesitation about personally signing the death warrants of those to be killed. In a document dated January 17, 1951, he gave the following order to his comrades, which included Deng Xiaoping:

In 21 counties in western Hunan, over 4,600 bandit chieftains, local tyrants, and Kuomingtang agents were killed. Another batch are planned to be killed this year by local authorities. I believe this disposal is very necessary. in places, we must kill big batches.dealing heavy blows means killing all reactionaries that should be killed with a firm hand. 30

In the early days when Mao was still alive, executions were carried out with great speed, sometimes in public and at other times in secret. In 1953, for instance, a woman called Yang Pei only learned that her husband had been executed when she applied for a divorce.

Executions continued in the Deng period. At the same time, an unbelievable "savings" measure was started, under which the cost of the bullet fired into the skull of the person executed was paid by his family. The state also found another means of turning a profit out of executions: The internal organs of the victims were sold, and all the profits went into the state coffers.

It is clear, therefore, that the current rulers of Red China are merely following in the footsteps of their so-called "eternal" leader Mao when they stage public executions or murder people in labor camps.

Executions are still staged on a regular basis in China. It is not known how many people are executed in the course of a year because the Chinese government treats such information as a state secret. However, the following figures will help to provide a general idea:

Amnesty International has reported there were 2,050 executions in China during 1994. It recently released the figure of 1,313 reported executions in China during the first half of 1995.31

The New York Times, 9.9.01 Radikal, 7.7.01 CHINA IS LIKE AN EXECUTION MACHINE In an article in The New York Times called "Chinese Justice Tools:Torture and Executions," it was reported that China has the highest number of executions of any country in the world. Some people sentenced to execution are first paraded in the streets, and then killed in full public view. The cost of the bullets used in executions is reclaimed from the victims' families. Radikal, 19.6.01 THE PICTURE OF DETERRENCE" IN CHINA'S STREETS Yeni Safak, 22.5.01 29 PEOPLE WERE EXECUTED IN A SINGLE DAY Cumhuriyet, 22.5.01 NEVER A DAY PASSES WITHOUT EXECUTIONS Only a very few of the executions in China are reported in the press, yet even these are enough to show the scale of the brutality.

The numbers have risen still further in the 2000s. In the first three months of 2001, 1,781 people were executed. That figure does not include the 2,960 people still awaiting execution.32

Wang Shouxin, accused of corruption in a coal business, was just one of thousands of Chinese people killed in the snow with a single bullet. Red China extracts the cost of the bullet employed from the victims' families. Such brutal scenes are often to be witnessed in China.

That figure is more than all the other countries in the rest of the world combined for the last three years alone. Among those executed are people from all kinds of social groups, including girls aged 15-16 and religious leaders.

The common "crime" of the great majority of these people was to want to live in freedom in their own country and to enjoy the most basic human freedoms, those of speech, thought and worship. Yet in the eyes of the Chinese government, both common criminals and supporters of democracy are all "counter-revolutionaries." That is why as many people are executed for "thought crimes" as for ordinary criminal offences. What is more, a number of new methods have recently been introduced in order for those guilty of "political crimes" to be executed. The most widespread of these is political detainees are accused of trumped up criminal offences.

In the article "Torture Hurries a New Wave of Executions in China," in the September 9, 2001, edition of The New York Times, it was stated that some 191 executions are carried out daily as the result of statements given under torture. According to the report, at least 3,000 people had been executed since April, and a further two or three times that figure were expected to be executed.

Chinese officials have always thought that capital punishment was necessary in order to keep the public in line and to strengthen the government. For that reason, they choose to parade those to be executed through the streets and then kill them in full public view. Those to be killed are brought before the public in handcuffs and made to face the spectators. Their names and crimes are written on placards hung around their necks. These scenes of savagery in full public view are also broadcast live on television.

Mass executions and the parading of those due to be killed through the streets have been methods employed since the earliest days of communist China.

Following the publication of scenes of mass executions in Newsweek magazine in 1984, the Chinese government feared that this might damage the country's image, and issued an order that those condemned to die should no longer be paraded through the streets. That order was subsequently expanded, and the fact that political detainees had been executed was to be kept secret even from their families. These instructions did not mean that political killings had been done away with in China, but that they were still proceeding apace, albeit out of sight. Following the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989, concerns over domestic policy overrode the country's image abroad, and many involved in the opposition were publicly executed.
Red China's habit of executing people due to their ideas was also seen during the time of the Prophet Moses and one of the cruelest despots in history - the Egyptian Pharaoh. Pharaoh threatened the followers of Moses with death because they refused to obey him and to abide by his rules. That threat is reported in the Qur'an:

He [Pharaoh] said, "Have you believed in him before I authorized you? He is your chief who taught you magic. But you will soon know! I will cut off your alternate hands and feet and I will crucify every one of you." (Qur'an, 26:49)

FAMILIAR IMAGES OF EXECUTIONS IN RED CHINA

EXECUTIONS ARE STILL BEING CARRIED OUT IN EAST TURKESTAN

Although China's policy regarding its own people is utterly ruthless, things are even worse in East Turkestan. The number of East Turkestan Muslims executed is enormous. Any initiative by the Muslim population to live according to their religion or speak their own language, which are fundamental rights, is savagely punished.

Just as in China as a whole, executions still go on in East Turkestan, and innocent people are killed in the absence of any firm evidence. Chinese courts are not independent like those in democratic countries, but operate within the framework of the Communist Party's political agenda. That is why the cases of people condemned to death are heard very quickly, and defendants are not given the necessary time and means to defend themselves properly. The death penalty is usually carried out so fast that victims' families are unaware of its event. According to official figures, 210 Muslims were executed in East Turkestan alone in 1997-1999, and it is believed that the true figure is actually a great deal higher.33 Executions are carried out every single month, and Mao's method of "killing by quotas" is scrupulously implemented.

Muslims executed in East Turkestan.

One of the methods resorted to by the Chinese regime in order to intimidate the Muslim population is mass arrests and torture while in detention. Most Muslims under arrest are sentenced to long terms in labor camps, and many of these are never heard of again. Families have no idea where prisoners are being held, or whether they are alive or dead.

When the young people of East Turkestan express the entirely justified demand to be allowed to live by their own religion and culture, they are punished with death by the communist regime. At the outset, some executions were broadcast by Chinese television as a "deterrent." However, the Chinese government later abandoned that practice out of concern over protests.

Pharaoh said, "Have you believed in him before I authorized you to do so? This is just some plot you have concocted in the city to drive its people from it. I will cut off your alternate hands and feet and then I will crucify every one of you." (Qur'an, 7:123-124)

Torture is widespread in Chinese prisons and labor camps. Various international organizations have drawn attention to the systematic torture carried out in China, and in their reports have warned the Chinese government. One of these was a 34-page report published by Amnesty International in 1999, which considered human rights violations in East Turkestan. One of the many incidents described in the report concerned descriptions of the grim prison conditions by the relatives of one 17-year-old detainee:

The jail was so crowded that prisoners were held 5 or 6 to a single cell - too small to allow them all to lie down at night; they had to take turns to sleep. Whenever police officers "visited" them in their cells, they were beaten. Those prisoners selected for interrogation were taken to a special room where they were beaten, kicked and given electric shocks with electric batons. The interrogation room was equipped with a rail fixed on the wall. Some prisoners were hung on the rail with one foot and one hand tied to the rail with handcuffs. They were left in that position for 24 hours. When they were untied, they could not stand straight. Some prisoners had their fingernails pulled out with pliers. Others had wires inserted under the nails.34

Just one of the thousands of Uighur Turks, arrested by the Chinese security forces in Gulja on February 4, 1997, subjected to unbelievable torture simply because of their beliefs.

The prisoner who underwent those experiences spent two months in prison, and was only released following payment of a 2,000 yen bribe by his family. The torture inflicted on another prisoner at the Public Security Bureau after being arrested was even more pitiless. What is more, that person's only crime was to meet and engage in an exchange of ideas with friends:

Some Chinese torture methods

Next to the detention centre is an underground place where some suspects are interrogated. He was questioned there in the evenings and tortured in various ways. For example, his hands were tied behind his back and the interrogators would lift his arms, pulling them up high in a twisted and painful position behind his back. He was given electric shocks with electric batons. The shocks were applied all over his body, including in his mouth and on his penis, which caused intense pain. The interrogators hit him on the bones of the legs with a wooden baton. They made him kneel down and hit him on the thighs and the shoulders with the baton. While tortured, he was made to wear a kind of metal helmet which came down over his eyes. The interrogators used this helmet to prevent fatalities, as some prisoners cannot bear the pain of torture and try to kill themselves by bashing their heads against the walls.35

Conditions in the so-called "re-education through labor" camps that convicted prisoners are sent to are even worse. "Re-education" in China means making someone accept communist ideology and be willing to obey the orders of the Communist Party, at no matter what price. The methods employed to that end are totally inhuman:

Prisoners in the camp work on average 10 hours a day at making and carrying bricks, cutting and transporting stones, and agricultural work. They are punished severely if they do not go to bed or get up on time, if they talk to each other, if they sing songs or shout, laugh or cry, if they secretly take water to wash themselves for prayer, if they do not finish their allotted tasks, or if they answer back to the police or guards. The punishments include being hit on the head, stomach and crutch with electric batons; being made to lie down and having their hand trodden on; being made to stand in the "flying aeroplane" position; being strapped to a pole and beaten, and being hung from the ceiling and beaten. On several occasions, police officers inserted an electric baton into a prisoner's anus. Many prisoners have lost their teeth, have bleeding ears, broken arms, infected and useless testicles due to torture. They are frequently insulted and humiliated by the guards. At mealtime, they have to sing songs of praise in Chinese, failing which they reportedly go without food. The camp has no doctor. Prisoners who are sick have to work or are given no food, and only those who are incontinent are taken to the hospital 36 kilometers away. Some have died on the way to hospital.36

China's policy in East Turkestan is a program of mass torture and genocide. According to information from the East Turkestan Information Center, some 10,000 Uighur Turks were arrested on trumped up charges between the beginning of 1999 and March of that same year, detained under the sort of conditions we have seen above, and sentenced to stiff punishment, especially the death penalty, by courts operating under the control of the Communist Party. The number of people sentenced to death by courts in East Turkestan or who died as the result of torture between the beginning of 1999 and March, 2000, is estimated to be 2,500.37

In the genocide campaign being waged by the Chinese government in East Turkestan, even children are detained on various charges. For instance, on October, 30, 1999, the Hotan Municipal Security Directorate arrested a Turkish girl, a middle school student, on the grounds that her writing resembled that of a poster that had been put up in the street. During a speech made by Regional General Secretary Wang Le Chuan in Hotan, which was closed to the press, he announced that a primary school student had been arrested because he had torn the picture of Chairman Mao on the cover of his school book.38

Gozcu, 30.10.99 PRISONS IN EAST TURKESTAN ARE TORTURE CENTRES Milli Gazete, 14.8.01 THE CHINESE ADMINISTRATION IS ATTEMPTING TO ASSIMILATE THE UIGHUR TURKS THE SUFFERING OF EAST TURKESTAN GOES ON

Foreign publications such as Amnesty International Briefing and Crescent International describe in great detail the oppression and cruelty faced by Muslims in occupied East Turkestan. Hundreds of Muslims are killed in organized executions. Thousands more are still in prison, awaiting execution.

EXAMPLES OF MAO-STYLE TORTURE The name of Mao Tse Tung is remembered today for cruelty and brutality. He had unimaginable tortures inflicted on, not just the people of East Turkestan, but on his own people as well. The actions of the Red Guards under Mao's instructions during the barbaric period known as the Cultural Revolution in particular, were crimes against humanity. The following are just a few of them: (Top) The Red Guards ruthlessly killed anyone they regarded as an enemy of the regime. The picture shows prisoners killed by the riverbank after the capture of Beijing.(Bottom) Farmers whose lands were taken away were tried by Mao's militants in "People's Courts" and then ruthlessly killed. To put those special handcuffs tightly on the wrists of a prisoner was a form of torture commonly used in Maoist China's prison system. Sometimes additional chains were put around the ankles of the prisoners. At other times a prisoner might be manacled and then have his handcuffs tied to a bar on the window so that he could not move away from the window to eat, drink, or go to the toilet. The purpose was to degrade a man in order to destroy his morale. Since the People's Government claimed to have abolished all forms of torture, the officials simply called such methods "punishment"' or "persuasion." a The whole people were invited to public trials of "counterrevolutionaries," who almost invariably were condemned to death. Everyone participated in the executions, shouting out "kill, kill" to the Red Guards whose task it was to cut victims into pieces. Sometimes the pieces were cooked and eaten, or force-fed to members of the victim's family who were still alive and looking on. b In The Black Book of Communism an observer described the inhuman treatment meted out to university professors detained during the days of Mao: Hanging from their necks were pails filled with rocks. I saw the principal: the pail around his neck was so heavy that the wire had cut deep into his neck and he was staggering. All were barefoot, hitting broken gongs or pots as they walked around the field crying out: "I am black gangster so-and-so." Finally, they all knelt down, burned incense, and begged Mao Zedong to "pardon their crimes.". A few girls nearly fainted. Beatings and torture followed. I had never seen such tortures before: eating nightsoil and insects, being subjected to electric shocks, being forced to kneel on broken glass, being hanged "like an airplane" by the arms and legs. c The same book also mentions the prisons: The most varied and sadistic tortures were quite common, such as hanging by the wrists or thumbs.. The most brutish people were allowed to operate with impunity. One camp commander assassinated or buried alive 1,320 people in one year, in addition to carrying out numerous rapes. d a. Nien Cheng, Life and Death in Shanghai, Macdonald, London, 1986, pp.224-226, cited in The Black Book of Communism, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1999, p.509. (emphasis added) b. Ibid., p.470-471. (emphasis added) c. Ken Ling, Miriam London and Lee Tai-Ling, Red Guard:From Schoolboy to "Little General" in Mao's China, Macdonald, London, 1972, pp. 18-21. cited in The Black Book of Communism, p. 525. (emphasis added) d. Ibid, p.482. (emphasis added)

THE LAOGAI "RE-EDUCATION CENTERS"

The laogai in China are the equivalent of Hitler's concentration camps and Stalin's gulags. The laogai system is intended to totally dominate people's thoughts, and turn them into slaves. It is one of the Chinese state's most important control mechanisms. So far some 20 million people have lost their lives in these camps. The aim behind these camps is "re-education" by means of forced labor. One of the most frequently employed slogans is "Forced labor is a means, and a revolution in thought the end." To put it more clearly, the intention behind the laogai is to use all possible means to oblige those who are seen as a potential threat to conform to the Communist Party's wishes. That in turn means humiliation, oppression, enslavement and torture.

These camps are often concealed by using other names for them, and may look like factories, mines or farms to fit the name. An article in The Washington Post described one of these camps, "Hunan Special Electric Machine Factory," or "Hunan Province No. 1 Prison," in which 2-3,000 prisoners are forced to work for an average of 16 hours a day. The factory used to make industrial generators, but now produces various goods such as wigs, medicine boxes, gloves, and Christmas lights.40

Laogai camps are actually intended to punish prisoners, and inmates are exploited by being forced to work under very harsh conditions. The inmates of laogai camps have no rights. They are made to work in state factories, mines, and farms, and to abide by the rules. An individual is kept in these camps until the authorities decide he has been completely reformed (in other words, torture and cruelty are applied until he is molded and obedient to the Communist Party's wishes.) That can sometimes take a whole lifetime, as even if a prisoner has served his entire sentence, he is