And the Winner Is...

Thanks to those of you who submitted designs for the "Say it Loud!" album cover contest. Congratulations to Shoaib Mohammad! His design (below) did the best job of capturing the essence of my upcoming album ("Say it Loud!"), which God-willing will be out by the end of the year.

Shoaib is a student, poet, and artist residing in Kashmir. Given that one of the songs on the album will be dedicated to the struggle for freedom in Kashmir, it is very fitting that his is the winning design.

Album Cover Design Contest

I've got a new album in the works to be titled "Say it Loud!" As with my previous album, I plan to make it available for free download. I'm accepting design entries for the album cover. The winner will receive design credit on the CD insert, acknowledgement on this blog, as well as 5 complimentary copies of the CD.

The deadline for submissions is October 19, 2009. The winner will be announced on October 31.

Entry rules: Submission must be for a standard 2-panel insert (1 sheet, front and back). Front panel must display album cover and include "Abu Nurah" and album name ("Say it Loud!"). Back panel must include song titles and credits (to be provided to winner for production of final design). Please submit designs in JPEG format to abunurah@gmail.com.

"What's Real" Lyrics

bringin the revolution to streets
droppin messages over beats

what's real is the topic before i began to drop it
i made du'a to the Lord, make these lyrics your sword
and if i'm spittin' the truth then gimme reward
my intention is pure i'm not intent on sowing discord
not the type cat to be bought they must've forgot
that it wasn't the deputy, it was the sheriff i shot
remember back when the world i knew was only my block
my purpose in life never really gave it much thought
what's real is making time for our kids
so what if the money's tight they're worth more than the biz
some separate cause it's too hard to sacrifice
parents are selfish and it's the children who pay the price
might have to work for the man just to keep the flow steady
put the children to bed, peaceful huggin' their teddy
not asking you to martyr for Palestine
your sacrifice is to support and give your family time

kids think they know the meaning of real
i'm bringin' the truth that's why i never have to pack steel
kids think they know the meaning of real
it's not about the papes, son; it's how you earn the next meal

what's real is having a cause, forget the applause
rather give to the poor never felt we needed to floss
so just keep those diamonds under the earth
'cause they bring death to my people plus they're not as precious as birth

what's real is those who put their lives on the line
speaking the truth is more dangerous than holding a nine
to your head Rachel Corrie i'd never say that she's dead
martyrs will live for ever should've been us instead
facing a tank in Tienanmen square made us aware
the best weapon is truth and not he bullets we share

kids think they know the meaning of real
i'm bringin' the truth that's why i never have to pack steel
kids think they know the meaning of real
it's not about the papes, son; it's how you earn the next meal

what's real is not to criticize but come up with solutions
life is short so we gotta work to build institutions
halfway houses battered women's shelters and more
foundations for education and less money for war
credit unions and banks that don't steal from the people
laws that reflect that all men were created equal
news networks that show truth when it's controversial
record labels making hardcore bump the commercial

what's real is the way we earn the next meal
it's easy to steal rats got it in their nature to squeal
it's not the papes let's think about the way they were made
maybe you hustle or maybe is just you than got played
there's definitely more money in crack than droppin' knowledge on tracks
you laugh at the 9 to 5 the people breakin' their backs
they count money in cents while you measure in stacks
just watch the angel of death, he's vicious when he attacks

kids think they know the meaning of real
i'm bringin' the truth that's why i never have to pack steel
kids think they know the meaning of real
it's not about the papes, son; it's how you earn the next meal

Say it Loud! Jihad and I'm Proud!

It is generally accepted that to fight in defense of the weak and oppressed is morally good. From an Islamic point of view, it is essentially a moral imperative. Yet the "war on terror" was achieved such a high level of intimidation among Muslims that jihad, or struggle, in defense of the oppressed is very rarely a subject of sermons or even informal discussions among Muslims.
Muslims have reason to be concerned, as governments the world over are using the "war on terror" to imprison Muslims on the flimsiest of evidence, often amounting to less than "thought crimes."

A case in point is the latest media hysteria over the North Carolina "jihad" case. The charges leveled against the seven suspects include practicing "military tactics" on private property. One wonders whether performing military push-ups in one's back yard is now cause for arrest. From the U.S. government's point of view, a Muslim who even aspires to defend his brothers and sisters is a criminal. The indictment states that one of the men traveled to Gaza "to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal obligation on the part of every good Muslim."

The government knows full well that the American public has no idea that jihad means struggle. In fact, corporate media has conspired with the government to equate jihad and terrorism in the minds of most casual observers. The framers of the "war on terror" are well-versed in propaganda tactics and know that by repeating phrases such as "violent jihad" and "Islamic terror" often enough, they become part of the American psyche.

Would it not make sense that a country who spends billions in wealth and human capital waging a "war on terror" first define terrorism? After all, it helps to know what one is fighting. It is no surprise that the government has little interest in such an exercise, as it would clearly reveal that our nation is among the prolific perpetrators of terrorism.

Let it be known that jihad is not terrorism and that it need not take the form of armed struggle. I for one subscribe to the notion that jihad is a personal obligation on the part of every good Muslim. There are times when jihad may take the form of armed struggle but its goal is never to take innocent lives, as the government and its lackeys would have us believe. So let us proclaim it loudly, as it is an honor to struggle and advocate in defense of the weak and oppressed. Let us hear it from the minbar (pulpit) and let us discuss it in our schools. There is no shame in sacrificing for others, only honor and reward from our Creator. Let us be good Muslims indeed.

"Mujahideen Chronicles" Lyrics

I co-wrote this song with Genocide, a Bosnian emcee living in New Zealand. Below are my verses. The idea was to make a song that is a conversation between mujahideen from different parts of the world, sharing their common story. These are not the stories of madmen hell-bent on taking innocent lives, but rather about human beings struggling to defend themselves and their homelands against all odds.

Some say I’m cursed cuz Gaza was the place of my birth
Where as a youth I fought invaders with a fistful of earth
My father martyred, two brothers locked in Zionist dungeons
I fought the soldiers ‘til a rifle butt knocked me unconscious
My mother’s tears they begged me to avoid the resistance
I did my best to obey her wish as God is my witness
When the brigades paid a visit I said I couldn’t enlist
They said no problem you could start by raising your fist
Over time the urge to resist grew strong in my heart
I regret that I didn’t lock and load right from the start
I pray for ample ammunition cuz the world won’t listen
So we I resist by any means ‘til my sole is risen
The more of us they massacre the more their plot is in peril
We pray for martyrdom Zionists made a pact with the devil
After the bombs fall, witness a fist emerge from the rubble
Now tell me what’s your story how did you enter the struggle?

We dug a trench like the Holy Prophet did in Medina
Some said build a wall and top it off with concertina
but the Zionist enemy dropped bombs from the sky
Good thing most of our fighters were ready to die
What kind of tactics do Chechen fighters bring to the battle?
Here we got punk collaborators roped like cattle
But much worse cuz with these snakes we show no mercy
My only aim is to please Allah, these rats can curse me

Confusing Cause and Effect

Media pundits and government officials often make the argument that US troops must remain in Iraq to curb the insurgency (resistance) and quell violence. In fact, it is the presence of the US (the foreign occupier) that foments the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resistance is not the cause, but an effect produced by the occupation. Similarly, Zionists claim that the occupation of Palestine is out of necessity to bring security to Israel. The truth is that resistance movements in Palestine arose from the dispossession, imprisonment, and violence meted against Palestinians since the formation of the state of Israel. The effect of occupation is resistance; to insist on the contrary is willful ignorance or worse.

The US and its allies have worked hard to equate resistance with terrorism, and their hard work has paid dividends. Those committing the worst atrocities and thereby inflicting the most terror are the same who wield the 'terrorist' label as a weapon against those who resist their aggression. In crafting this "War on Terror," the architects have created a self-perpetuating campaign of violence with no end in sight. How can there be an end, when the very actions that are ostensibly taken to curb terrorism are themselves terrorist in nature, and when this terrorism will give rise to more resistance, which the US and its allies will in turn label terrorism to justify further aggression?

That's not to say that those with blood on their hands are the only ones getting it wrong. Those of us in solidarity with the victims of war and occupation often fall prey to the same backwards reasoning. For example, one of our prefered tactics is to hold protest marches and ralies to try to get out our message. May of us have grown up believing that marches are a tried and true tactic in large part due to the success of the civil rights movement. Marching then, especially for African Americans, was a true sign of resistance. It also was the result of considerable organization and mobilization by a large segment of Americans. When so many Americans witnessed on television how African Americans were brutalized for simply marching peacefully, the movement reached a critical mass. The rallies and marches were more a manifestation and the result of this broad-based coalition and solidarity with the civil rights movement. The large rallies and marches did not themselves bring about the change, rather the groundswell of support culminated in many poeple coming together. We must keep this in mind during our anti-war struggles. The tide is not going to turn based on our protest marches, especially when these events are blacked out by corporate, traditional media. What we need to do is develop the conditions that create a culture of resistance and solidarity among a broad base of people until it reaches a critical mass. Protest marches are not resistance, unless those in power are preventing us from collectively gathering and we do it anyway and pay the price. Then it becomes compelling enough perhaps for even corporate media to take note.

During the Vietnam era, there was a culture of resistance against the war, much more so than there is today. And still it took many years for that misadventure to come to an end. It will take much more than mimmicking effects to bring about a withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and even more so to end the occupation of Palestine. Many in the civil rights movement were martyred and imprisoned for their struggle. That's the kind of currency (blood & freedom) it takes to be a player in this high stakes game. Until we're ready to up the ante, we're just selling popcorn, so to speak.

Castration, Because Oppression is Not Enough

In the war of ideas, our core task is not to promote our brand, but to destroy theirs. The effort is to help show populations that the ideology and actions of violent extremists are not in the best interests of those populations.

- James Glassman, Undersecretary of State

During a recent address before the Council on Foreign Relations, James Glassman, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, laid out the government's strategy to achieve complete subjugation of still restless natives. "Our mission today in the war of ideas is to create an environment hostile to violent extremism," he began.

While it should be obvious to anyone that our own extremism and violence is responsible for the upsurge in violent resistance across the Muslim world, those in power want to ignore this fact. Instead, they want to see if they can brainwash Muslims into giving up the human instinct to fight back against those who oppress and brutalize them.

"We seek to isolate or marginalize violent extremists who threaten freedom and peace," Glassman continues. One can speculate how far the government is willing to go in order to achieve this. Is it a wonder that much of the world, including the majority of Muslims in the Western world, considers Al Qaeda to be evil without question? Most people do not even give it a second thought. The media arm of the US government, the traditional, corporate-owned media, have done a lot to cement this perception.

But how far has our government gone to promote this view? Certainly they are capable of hiding and distorting evidence that would reveal Al Qaeda's intent as resistance to U.S. and Israeli aggression. Instead, they promote the image of a bloodthirsty organization without regard for human life. So effective are the government's propaganda and media complicity that most of us have accepted this notion at least in part, despite the fact that a dispassionate assessment of reality would reveal that Israel and the U.S. are by far greater purveyors of violence and terror. So crucial is this propaganda effort to the government that it is no stretch to imagine our government's use of black ops methods to indict Al Qaeda in the court of public opinion. Examples would be bombings of worshippers in Iraq and any number of bombings that could easily be staged to "bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda."

Continues Glassman:

It is a fact that the battle is going on within Muslim society that makes our role so complicated, and that requires that we ourselves not do much of the fighting. The most credible voices in the war of ideas are Muslim.

Thanks to there being no shortage of collaborators in the Muslim world, as evidenced by puppet rulers such as Hamid Karzai and Jalal Talabani, among a host of others, the U.S. government's tactic of using Muslims to occupy their own countries and advance its political agenda is at least in theory very attainable.

Glassman outlines the desired outcome of this approach:

Here is our desired end state: a world in which the use of violence to achieve political, religious, or social objectives is no longer considered acceptable. Efforts to radicalize and recruit new members are no longer successful, and the perpetrators of violent extremism are condemned and isolated.

Putting aside the colossal hypocrisy inherent in that statement, it reveals a concerted effort to marginalize Muslim militants -- that is, Muslim willing to take up arms to thwart U.S. aggression. The "end state" Glassman refers to is one in which resistance is no longer acceptable, in which Muslims are so brainwashed that they consider their own brothers willing to put their lives on the line in defense of freedom and decency to be not freedom fighters, but villains.

One has to give credit to the U.S. government for even attempting this ambitious goal. After all, it is no easy task to deceive a group of people that has been under the boot of U.S. and Zionist-propelled aggression for so long.

But not to fear, Glassman reminds us of the policy of diversion that has worked so well on our own population:

Shorthand for this policy is diversion -- powerful and lasting diversion, channeling potential recruits from violence with the attractions of entertainment, technology, sports, education and culture, business, in addition to politics and economics. We seek to build counter movements by empowering groups and individuals opposed to violent extremism -- movements using both electronic and physical means that bring people together with similar constructive interests, such as mothers opposed to violence, built on the Mothers Against Drunk Driving model; believers in democratic Islam; even electronic gaming.

Yes, folks "education and culture" as a means to subdue would-be freedom fighters. It used to be that reading itself was a revolutionary act. The times have changed, I'm afraid. The government is more interested in segregating groups into those that fight and those who won't. It boils down to the tried and true method of 'divide and conquer.' MySpace, anyone?