Image: NYT
Faizel Patel – 18/08/2021
Renowned political activist and academic Dr. Azzam Tamimi says the Taliban returning to power after twenty years is truly a historic moment for the Muslim ummah.
Dr. Tamimi was speaking to Radio Islam about the Taliban seizing power from the Western backed Afghan government and the withdrawal of US occupation forces from the country.
On Tuesday, politics professor at the University of San Francisco Stephen Zunes told Radio Islam the US Government is still trying to come to terms with how quickly the Taliban have taken over power in Afghanistan.
The Taliban capped a military victory that saw the movement capture all cities in including Kabul in just 10 days and forcing President Ashraf Ghani and his family to flee the country and welcomed in the United Arab Emirates for “humanitarian considerations.”
Dr. Tamimi says the Taliban’s rise to power has been welcomed in Afghanistan.
“It is definitely a historic moment for all those concerned including the Ummah. It’s not just a question of returning to power, it’s a question of defeating the biggest empire, the biggest military empire in the world today, the United States and all its allies; those who joined in invading Afghanistan and occupying it for twenty years. The Taliban throughout that period together with the Afghani people who supported them never lost hope that one day their country would be free again.”
Dr. Tamimi says since the occupation of Afghanistan by US forces, the Taliban have been given atrocious media coverage by propagandist media outlets including some Muslims globally who are following the narrative of Western Media.
“Since the occupation, they’ve been demonized consistently and constantly by the Americans and their allies including many Arabs and Muslim governments in the region to justify the US invasion and occupation in the name of fighting terrorism. The Taliban themselves were never involved in what the West calls terrorism.”
Dr Tamimi says he was really impressed by the Taliban’s first press conference after taking power and the conduct of Zabihullah Mujahid who was given authority by the Taliban to speak on behalf of the movement
“I thought the media work, the media presentation and the PR work of the Taliban is truly excellent. They are modest, knowledgeable, they speak to the point, they answered journalists questions without trying to evade or trying to be evasive.”
Dr Tamimi says many Islamic movements can learn a lot from the performance of the Taliban when it comes to “talking to the public opinion around the world, locally as well as regionally,” adding that the recent success of the Taliban in Afghanistan have given Palestinians hope of also toppling the occupying forces of the Israeli apartheid regime.
Message from Dr. Azzam Tamimi, a British Palestinian academic and political activist pic.twitter.com/ZvR4rdGWW1
— Radio Islam (@radioislam) August 18, 2021
Listen to the interview with Dr. Azzam Tamimi
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