Rızık, Mahrumiyet, Akıl

Hz. Ali (r.a.)

Rızık, zekasızların; mahrumiyet, akıllıların; bela ise sabrın payıdır.

Ayıbın en büyüğü, ona benzer bir ayıp sende de varken; başkasını ayıplamandır.

Kişinin kendini beğenmesi, aklının zayıf olduğuna delalet eder.

Seni ıslah etmeyen bilgi sapıklık, sana faydası olmayan mal vebaldir.

Dünyada halkın efendileri cömertler, ahirette ıse çekinenlerdir.
     Hz. Ali (r.a.)

Hz Ali

Hz. Ali (r.a.)

* Dostlukta ileri gitme, olur ki o dost bir gün düşman kesilir; düşmanlıkta da haddi aşma, olur ki o düşman bir gün dost olur.

* Eğer birgün dünyaya ait derdin olursa, rabbine dönüp rabbim çok büyük derdim var deme. Derdine dönüp çok büyük rabbim var de.

* Fazîlet, en iyi maldır. Cömertlik, en güzel mücevherdir. Akıl, en güzel zînettir. İlim, en şerefli meziyettir.
    Hz. Ali (r.a.)

Charles Schulz

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use

Chinese Leader

Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader

China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao

The mother of China’s prime minister was a schoolteacher in northern China. His father was ordered to tend pigs in one of Mao’s political campaigns. And during childhood, “my family was extremely poor,” the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said in a speech last year.
But now 90, the prime minister’s mother, Yang Zhiyun, not only left poverty behind, she became outright rich, at least on paper, according to corporate and regulatory records. Just one investment in her name, in a large Chinese financial services company, had a value of $120 million five years ago, the records show.
The details of how Ms. Yang, a widow, accumulated such wealth are not known, or even if she was aware of the holdings in her name. But it happened after her son was elevated to China’s ruling elite, first in 1998 as vice prime minister and then five years later as prime minister.
Many relatives of Wen Jiabao, including his son, daughter, younger brother and brother-in-law, have become extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership, an investigation by The New York Times shows. A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister’s relatives — some of whom, including his wife, have a knack for aggressive deal making — have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.
In many cases, the names of the relatives have been hidden behind layers of partnerships and investment vehicles involving friends, work colleagues and business partners. Untangling their financial holdings provides an unusually detailed look at how politically connected people have profited from being at the intersection of government and business as state influence and private wealth converge in China’s fast-growing economy.
Unlike most new businesses in China, the family’s ventures sometimes received financial backing from state-owned companies, including China Mobile, one of the country’s biggest phone operators, the documents show. At other times, the ventures won support from some of Asia’s richest tycoons. The Times found that Mr. Wen’s relatives accumulated shares in banks, jewelers, tourist resorts, telecommunications companies and infrastructure projects, sometimes by using offshore entities.
The holdings include a villa development project in Beijing; a tire factory in northern China; a company that helped build some of Beijing’s Olympic stadiums, including the well-known “Bird’s Nest”; and Ping An Insurance, one of the world’s biggest financial services companies.
As prime minister in an economy that remains heavily state-driven, Mr. Wen, who is best known for his simple ways and common touch, more importantly has broad authority over the major industries where his relatives have made their fortunes. Chinese companies cannot list their shares on a stock exchange without approval from agencies overseen by Mr. Wen, for example. He also has the power to influence investments in strategic sectors like energy and telecommunications.
Because the Chinese government rarely makes its deliberations public, it is not known what role — if any — Mr. Wen, who is 70, has played in most policy or regulatory decisions. But in some cases, his relatives have sought to profit from opportunities made possible by those decisions.
The prime minister’s younger brother, for example, has a company that was awarded more than $30 million in government contracts and subsidies to handle wastewater treatment and medical waste disposal for some of China’s biggest cities, according to estimates based on government records. The contracts were announced after Mr. Wen ordered tougher regulations on medical waste disposal in 2003 after the SARS outbreak.
In 2004, after the State Council, a government body Mr. Wen presides over, exempted Ping An Insurance and other companies from rules that limited their scope, Ping An went on to raise $1.8 billion in an initial public offering of stock. Partnerships controlled by Mr. Wen’s relatives — along with their friends and colleagues — made a fortune by investing in the company before the public offering.
In 2007, the last year the stock holdings were disclosed in public documents, those partnerships held as much as $2.2 billion worth of Ping An stock, according to an accounting of the investments by The Times that was verified by outside auditors. Ping An’s overall market value is now nearly $60 billion.
Ping An said in a statement that the company did “not know the background of the entities behind our shareholders.” The statement said, “Ping An has no means to know the intentions behind shareholders when they buy and sell our shares.”
While Communist Party regulations call for top officials to disclose their wealth and that of their immediate family members, no law or regulation prohibits relatives of even the most senior officials from becoming deal-makers or major investors — a loophole that effectively allows them to trade on their family name. Some Chinese argue that permitting the families of Communist Party leaders to profit from the country’s long economic boom has been important to ensuring elite support for market-oriented reforms.
Even so, the business dealings of Mr. Wen’s relatives have sometimes been hidden in ways that suggest the relatives are eager to avoid public scrutiny, the records filed with Chinese regulatory authorities show. Their ownership stakes are often veiled by an intricate web of holdings as many as five steps removed from the operating companies, according to the review.
In the case of Mr. Wen’s mother, The Times calculated her stake in Ping An — valued at $120 million in 2007 — by examining public records and government-issued identity cards, and by following the ownership trail to three Chinese investment entities. The name recorded on his mother’s shares was Taihong, a holding company registered in Tianjin, the prime minister’s hometown.
The apparent efforts to conceal the wealth reflect the highly charged politics surrounding the country’s ruling elite, many of whom are also enormously wealthy but reluctant to draw attention to their riches. When Bloomberg News reported in June that the extended family of Vice President Xi Jinping, set to become China’s next president, had amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, the Chinese government blocked access inside the country to the Bloomberg Web site.
“In the senior leadership, there’s no family that doesn’t have these problems,” said a former government colleague of Wen Jiabao who has known him for more than 20 years and who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “His enemies are intentionally trying to smear him by letting this leak out.”
The Times presented its findings to the Chinese government for comment. The Foreign Ministry declined to respond to questions about the investments, the prime minister or his relatives. Members of Mr. Wen’s family also declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Duan Weihong, a wealthy businesswoman whose company, Taihong, was the investment vehicle for the Ping An shares held by the prime minister’s mother and other relatives, said the investments were actually her own. Ms. Duan, who comes from the prime minister’s hometown and is a close friend of his wife, said ownership of the shares was listed in the names of Mr. Wen’s relatives in an effort to conceal the size of Ms. Duan’s own holdings.
“When I invested in Ping An I didn’t want to be written about,” Ms. Duan said, “so I had my relatives find some other people to hold these shares for me.”
But it was an “accident,” she said, that her company chose the relatives of the prime minister as the listed shareholders — a process that required registering their official ID numbers and obtaining their signatures. Until presented with the names of the investors by The Times, she said, she had no idea that they had selected the relatives of Wen Jiabao.
The review of the corporate and regulatory records, which covers 1992 to 2012, found no holdings in Mr. Wen’s name. And it was not possible to determine from the documents whether he recused himself from any decisions that might have affected his relatives’ holdings, or whether they received preferential treatment on investments.
For much of his tenure, Wen Jiabao has been at the center of rumors and conjecture about efforts by his relatives to profit from his position. Yet until the review by The Times, there has been no detailed accounting of the family’s riches.
His wife, Zhang Beili, is one of the country’s leading authorities on jewelry and gemstones and is an accomplished businesswoman in her own right. By managing state diamond companies that were later privatized, The Times found, she helped her relatives parlay their minority stakes into a billion-dollar portfolio of insurance, technology and real estate ventures.
The couple’s only son sold a technology company he started to the family of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, for $10 million, and used another investment vehicle to establish New Horizon Capital, now one of China’s biggest private equity firms, with partners like the government of Singapore, according to records and interviews with bankers.
The prime minister’s younger brother, Wen Jiahong, controls $200 million in assets, including wastewater treatment plants and recycling businesses, the records show.
As prime minister, Mr. Wen has staked out a position as a populist and a reformer, someone whom the state-run media has nicknamed “the People’s Premier” and “Grandpa Wen” because of his frequent outings to meet ordinary people, especially in moments of crisis like natural disasters.
While it is unclear how much the prime minister knows about his family’s wealth, State Department documents released by the WikiLeaks organization in 2010 included a cable that suggested Mr. Wen was aware of his relatives’ business dealings and unhappy about them.
“Wen is disgusted with his family’s activities, but is either unable or unwilling to curtail them,” a Chinese-born executive working at an American company in Shanghai told American diplomats, according to the 2007 cable.
China’s ‘Diamond Queen’
It is no secret in China’s elite circles that the prime minister’s wife, Zhang Beili, is rich, and that she has helped control the nation’s jewelry and gem trade. But her lucrative diamond businesses became an off-the-charts success only as her husband moved into the country’s top leadership ranks, the review of corporate and regulatory records by The Times found.
A geologist with an expertise in gemstones, Ms. Zhang is largely unknown among ordinary Chinese. She rarely travels with the prime minister or appears with him, and there are few official photographs of the couple together. And while people who have worked with her say she has a taste for jade and fine diamonds, they say she usually dresses modestly, does not exude glamour and prefers to wield influence behind the scenes, much like the relatives of other senior leaders.
The State Department documents released by WikiLeaks included a suggestion that Mr. Wen had once considered divorcing Ms. Zhang because she had exploited their relationship in her diamond trades. Taiwanese television reported in 2007 that Ms. Zhang had bought a pair of jade earrings worth about $275,000 at a Beijing trade show, though the source — a Taiwanese trader — later backed off the claim and Chinese government censors moved swiftly to block coverage of the subject in China, according to news reports at the time.
“Her business activities are known to everyone in the leadership,” said one banker who worked with relatives of Wen Jiabao. The banker said it was not unusual for her office to call upon businesspeople. “And if you get that call, how can you say no?”
Zhang Beili first gained influence in the 1990s, while working as a regulator at the Ministry of Geology. At the time, China’s jewelry market was still in its infancy.
While her husband was serving in China’s main leadership compound, known as Zhongnanhai, Ms. Zhang was setting industry standards in the jewelry and gem trade. She helped create the National Gemstone Testing Center in Beijing, and the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, two of the industry’s most powerful institutions.
In a country where the state has long dominated the marketplace, jewelry regulators often decided which companies could set up diamond-processing factories, and which would gain entry to the retail jewelry market. State regulators even formulated rules that required diamond sellers to buy certificates of authenticity for any diamond sold in China, from the government-run testing center in Beijing, which Ms. Zhang managed.
As a result, when executives from Cartier or De Beers visited China with hopes of selling diamonds and jewelry here, they often went to visit Ms. Zhang, who became known as China’s “diamond queen.”
“She’s the most important person there,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, president of the World Jewelry Confederation in Switzerland. “She was bridging relations between partners — Chinese and foreign partners.”
As early as 1992, people who worked with Ms. Zhang said, she had begun to blur the line between government official and businesswoman. As head of the state-owned China Mineral and Gem Corporation, she began investing the state company’s money in start-ups. And by the time her husband was named vice premier, in 1998, she was busy setting up business ventures with friends and relatives.
The state company she ran invested in a group of affiliated diamond companies, according to public records. Many of them were run by Ms. Zhang’s relatives — or colleagues who had worked with her at the National Gemstone Testing Center.
In 1993, for instance, the state company Ms. Zhang ran helped found Beijing Diamond, a big jewelry retailer. A year later, one of her younger brothers, Zhang Jianming, and two of her government colleagues personally acquired 80 percent of the company, according to shareholder registers. Beijing Diamond invested in Shenzhen Diamond, which was controlled by her brother-in-law, Wen Jiahong, the prime minister’s younger brother.
Among the successful undertakings was Sino-Diamond, a venture financed by the state-owned China Mineral and Gem Corporation, which she headed. The company had business ties with a state-owned company managed by another brother, Zhang Jiankun, who worked as an official in Jiaxing, Ms. Zhang’s hometown, in Zhejiang Province.
In the summer of 1999, after securing agreements to import diamonds from Russia and South Africa, Sino-Diamond went public, raising $50 million on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The offering netted Ms. Zhang’s family about $8 million, according to corporate filings.
Although she was never listed as a shareholder, former colleagues and business partners say Ms. Zhang’s early diamond partnerships were the nucleus of a larger portfolio of companies she would later help her family and colleagues gain a stake in.
The Times found no indication that Wen Jiabao used his political clout to influence the diamond companies his relatives invested in. But former business partners said that the family’s success in diamonds, and beyond, was often bolstered with financial backing from wealthy businessmen who sought to curry favor with the prime minister’s family.
“After Wen became prime minister, his wife sold off some of her diamond investments and moved into new things,” said a Chinese executive who did business with the family. He asked not to be named because of fear of government retaliation. Corporate records show that beginning in the late 1990s, a series of rich businessmen took turns buying up large stakes in the diamond companies, often from relatives of Mr. Wen, and then helped them reinvest in other lucrative ventures, like real estate and finance.
According to corporate records and interviews, the businessmen often supplied accountants and office space to investment partnerships partly controlled by the relatives.
“When they formed companies,” said one businessman who set up a company with members of the Wen family, “Ms. Zhang stayed in the background. That’s how it worked.”
The Only Son
Late one evening early this year, the prime minister’s only son, Wen Yunsong, was in the cigar lounge at Xiu, an upscale bar and lounge at the Park Hyatt in Beijing. He was having cocktails as Beijing’s nouveau riche gathered around, clutching designer bags and wearing expensive business suits, according to two guests who were present.
In China, the children of senior leaders are widely believed to be in a class of their own. Known as “princelings,” they often hold Ivy League degrees, get V.I.P. treatment, and are even offered preferred pricing on shares in hot stock offerings.
They are also known as people who can get things done in China’s heavily regulated marketplace, where the state controls access. And in recent years, few princelings have been as bold as the younger Mr. Wen, who goes by the English name Winston and is about 40 years old.
A Times review of Winston Wen’s investments, and interviews with people who have known him for years, show that his deal-making has been extensive and lucrative, even by the standards of his princeling peers.
State-run giants like China Mobile have formed start-ups with him. In recent years, Winston Wen has been in talks with Hollywood studios about a financing deal.
Concerned that China does not have an elite boarding school for Chinese students, he recently hired the headmasters of Choate and Hotchkiss in Connecticut to oversee the creation of a $150 million private school now being built in the Beijing suburbs.
Winston Wen and his wife, moreover, have stakes in the technology industry and an electric company, as well as an indirect stake in Union Mobile Pay, the government-backed online payment platform — all while living in the prime minister’s residence, in central Beijing, according to corporate records and people familiar with the family’s investments.
“He’s not shy about using his influence to get things done,” said one venture capitalist who regularly meets with Winston Wen.
The younger Mr. Wen declined to comment. But in a telephone interview, his wife, Yang Xiaomeng, said her husband had been unfairly criticized for his business dealings.
“Everything that has been written about him has been wrong,” she said. “He’s really not doing that much business anymore.”
Winston Wen was educated in Beijing and then earned an engineering degree from the Beijing Institute of Technology. He went abroad and earned a master’s degree in engineering materials from the University of Windsor, in Canada, and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., just outside Chicago.
When he returned to China in 2000, he helped set up three successful technology companies in five years, according to people familiar with those deals. Two of them were sold to Hong Kong businessmen, one to the family of Li Ka-shing, one of the wealthiest men in Asia.
Winston Wen’s earliest venture, an Internet data services provider called Unihub Global, was founded in 2000 with $2 million in start-up capital, according to Hong Kong and Beijing corporate filings. Financing came from a tight-knit group of relatives and his mother’s former colleagues from government and the diamond trade, as well as an associate of Cheng Yu-tung, patriarch of Hong Kong’s second-wealthiest family. The firm’s earliest customers were state-owned brokerage houses and Ping An, in which the Wen family has held a large financial stake.
He made an even bolder move in 2005, by pushing into private equity when he formed New Horizon Capital with a group of Chinese-born classmates from Northwestern. The firm quickly raised $100 million from investors, including SBI Holdings, a division of the Japanese group SoftBank, and Temasek, the Singapore government investment fund.
Under Mr. Wen, New Horizon established itself as a leading private equity firm, investing in biotech, solar, wind and construction equipment makers. Since it began operations, the firm has returned about $430 million to investors, a fourfold profit, according to SBI Holdings.
“Their first fund was dynamite,” said Kathleen Ng, editor of Asia Private Equity Review, an industry publication in Hong Kong. “And that allowed them to raise a lot more money.”
Today, New Horizon has more than $2.5 billion under management.
Some of Winston Wen’s deal-making, though, has attracted unwanted attention for the prime minister.
In 2010, when New Horizon acquired a 9 percent stake in a company called Sihuan Pharmaceuticals just two months before its public offering, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said the late-stage investment violated its rules and forced the firm to return the stake. Still, New Horizon made a $46.5 million profit on the sale.
Soon after, New Horizon announced that Winston Wen had handed over day-to-day operations and taken up a position at the China Satellite Communications Corporation, a state-owned company that has ties to the Chinese space program. He has since been named chairman.
The Tycoons
In the late 1990s, Duan Weihong was managing an office building and several other properties in Tianjin, the prime minister’s hometown in northern China, through her property company, Taihong. She was in her 20s and had studied at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
Around 2002, Ms. Duan went into business with several relatives of Wen Jiabao, transforming her property company into an investment vehicle of the same name. The company helped make Ms. Duan very wealthy.
It is not known whether Ms. Duan, now 43, is related to the prime minister. In a series of interviews, she first said she did not know any members of the Wen family, but later described herself as a friend of the family and particularly close to Zhang Beili, the prime minister’s wife. As happened to a handful of other Chinese entrepreneurs, Ms. Duan’s fortunes soared as she teamed up with the relatives and their network of friends and colleagues, though she described her relationship with them involving the shares in Ping An as existing on paper only and having no financial component.
Ms. Duan and other wealthy businesspeople — among them, six billionaires from across China — have been instrumental in getting multimillion-dollar ventures off the ground and, at crucial times, helping members of the Wen family set up investment vehicles to profit from them, according to investment bankers who have worked with all parties.
Established in Tianjin, Taihong had spectacular returns. In 2002, the company paid about $65 million to acquire a 3 percent stake in Ping An before its initial public offering, according to corporate records and Ms. Duan’s graduate school thesis. Five years later, those shares were worth $3.7 billion
The company’s Hong Kong affiliate, Great Ocean, also run by Ms. Duan, later formed a joint venture with the Beijing government and acquired a huge tract of land adjacent to Capital International Airport. Today, the site is home to a sprawling cargo and logistics center. Last year, Great Ocean sold its 53 percent stake in the project to a Singapore company for nearly $400 million.
That deal and several other investments, in luxury hotels, Beijing villa developments and the Hong Kong-listed BBMG, one of China’s largest building materials companies, have been instrumental to Ms. Duan’s accumulation of riches, according to The Times’s review of corporate records.
The review also showed that over the past decade there have been nearly three dozen individual shareholders of Taihong, many of whom are either relatives of Wen Jiabao or former colleagues of his wife.
The other wealthy entrepreneurs who have worked with the prime minister’s relatives declined to comment for this article. Ms. Duan strongly denied having financial ties to the prime minister or his relatives and said she was only trying to avoid publicity by listing others as owning Ping An shares. “The money I invested in Ping An was completely my own,” said Ms. Duan, who has served as a member of the Ping An board of supervisors. “Everything I did was legal.”
Another wealthy partner of the Wen relatives has been Cheng Yu-tung, who controls the Hong Kong conglomerate New World Development and is one of the richest men in Asia, worth about $15 billion, according to Forbes.
In the 1990s, New World was seeking a foothold in mainland China for a sister company that specializes in high-end retail jewelry. The retail chain, Chow Tai Fook, opened its first store in China in 1998.
Mr. Cheng and his associates invested in a diamond venture backed by the relatives of Mr. Wen and co-invested with them in an array of corporate entities, including Sino-Life, National Trust and Ping An, according to records and interviews with some of those involved. Those investments by Mr. Cheng are now worth at least $5 billion, according to the corporate filings. Chow Tai Fook, the jewelry chain, has also flourished. Today, China accounts for 60 percent of the chain’s $4.2 billion in annual revenue.
Mr. Cheng, 87, could not be reached for comment. Calls to New World Development were not returned.
Fallout for Premier
In the winter of 2007, just before he began his second term as prime minister, Wen Jiabao called for new measures to fight corruption, particularly among high-ranking officials.
“Leaders at all levels of government should take the lead in the antigraft drive,” he told a gathering of high-level party members in Beijing. “They should strictly ensure that their family members, friends and close subordinates do not abuse government influence.”
The speech was consistent with the prime minister’s earlier drive to toughen disclosure rules for public servants, and to require senior officials to reveal their family assets.
Whether Mr. Wen has made such disclosures for his own family is unclear, since the Communist Party does not release such information. Even so, many of the holdings found by The Times would not need to be disclosed under the rules since they are not held in the name of the prime minister’s immediate family — his wife, son and daughter.
Eighty percent of the $2.7 billion in assets identified in The Times’s investigation and verified by the outside auditors were held by, among others, the prime minister’s mother, his younger brother, two brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law, daughter-in-law and the parents of his son’s wife, none of whom is subject to party disclosure rules. The total value of the relatives’ stake in Ping An is based on calculations by The Times that were confirmed by the auditors. The total includes shares held by the relatives that were sold between 2004 and 2006, and the value of the remaining shares in late 2007, the last time the holdings were publicly disclosed.
Legal experts said that determining the precise value of holdings in China could be difficult because there might be undisclosed side agreements about the true beneficiaries.
“Complex corporate structures are not necessarily insidious,” said Curtis J. Milhaupt, a Columbia University Law School professor who has studied China’s corporate group structures. “But in a system like China’s, where corporate ownership and political power are closely intertwined, shell companies magnify questions about who owns what and where the money came from.”
Among the investors in the Wen family ventures are longtime business associates, former colleagues and college classmates, including Yu Jianming, who attended Northwestern with Winston Wen, and Zhang Yuhong, a longtime colleague of Wen Jiahong, the prime minister’s younger brother. The associates did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Revelations about the Wen family’s wealth could weaken him politically.
Next month, at the 18th Party Congress in Beijing, the Communist Party is expected to announce a new generation of leaders. But the selection process has already been marred by one of the worst political scandals in decades, the downfall of Bo Xilai, the Chongqing party boss, who was vying for a top position.
In Beijing, Wen Jiabao is expected to step down as prime minister in March at the end of his second term. Political analysts say that even after leaving office he could remain a strong backstage political force. But documents showing that his relatives amassed a fortune during his tenure could diminish his standing, the analysts said.
“This will affect whatever residual power Wen has,” said Minxin Pei, an expert on Chinese leadership and a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California.
The prime minister’s supporters say he has not personally benefited from his extended family’s business dealings, and may not even be knowledgeable about the extent of them.
Last March, the prime minister hinted that he was at least aware of the persistent rumors about his relatives. During a nationally televised news conference in Beijing, he insisted that he had “never pursued personal gain” in public office.
“I have the courage to face the people and to face history,” he said in an emotional session. “There are people who will appreciate what I have done, but there are also people who will criticize me. Ultimately, history will have the final say.”

Gabriel García Márquez

Kaybedecek bir şeyi olmayanlardan korkmalısın. Çünkü onlar, kazanmak için herşeyi yaparlar.
Bir insanın en büyük hatası; gereğinden fazla değer vermek değil, kendine hak ettiğinden daha az değer vermektir.
Bir sona geldiğin için ağlama, onu yaşadığın için gülümse.
Önemli olan, hayatta başına ne geldiği değil, neyi nasıl hatırladığındır.
Birlikte gülüyorsanız mutluluktur, Birlikte ağlıyorsanız dostluktur; ama birlikte susuyorsanız bu aşktır...
İnsanı sadece sözler ele vermez, Gözler de içinde birşeyler gizler. Hatta sözler ne kadar inkar etsede; gözler herşeyi söyler.
Eğer biraz aklın varsa; mutluluk için istediği şartları bulamayınca, bulduğun şartlarda mutlu olmayı bilmelisin.
Birini özlemenin en kötü yolu, yan yana oturduğun halde onu hiçbir zaman elde edemeyeceğini bilmendir.
Aslında kötü insan yoktur hayatın hiçbir evresinde, her insan huzur verir; kimi geldiğinde, kimi gittiğinde.
Birisine yabancılaşmanın en kötü biçimi yanında oturuyor olup ona hiçbir zaman ulaşamayacağını bilmektir.
Hiçbir zaman gülümsemekten vazgeçme, üzgün olduğunda bile. kimin, ne zaman aşık olacağını bilemezsin.
Eğer ona bir şans daha veriyorsan, kendini birdaha kandırmayı göze alıyorsun demektir.
Kimi ne kadar düşünürsen düşün; "Düşüncelerin en derini, başına yastığa koyduğun an başlar.
                        Gabriel García Márquez

Nerdesin Şevketlim

SULTAN ABDÜLHAMİD HAN'IN RUHANİYETİNDEN İSTİMDAT

Nerdesin şevketlim, sultan hamid han?
Feryâdım varır mı bârigâhına?
Ölüm uykusundan bir lâhza uyan,
Şu nankör milletin bak günâhına.

Tahkire yeltenen tac-ü tahtını,
Denedi bu millet kara bahtını;
Sınad-ı sillenin nerm ve sahtını,
Rahmet et sultanım suz-i âhına.

Târihler ismini andığı zaman,
Sana hak verecek, ey koca sultan;
Bizdik utanmadan iftira atan,
Asrın en siyâsî padişâhına.

"Pâdişah hem zâlim, hem deli' dedik,
İhtilâle kıyam etmeli dedik;
Şeytan ne dediyse, biz 'belî' dedik;
Çalıştık fitnenin intibahına.

Dîvâne sen değil, meğer bizmişiz,
Bir çürük ipliğe hülyâ dizmişiz.
Sade deli değil, edepsizmişiz.
Tükürdük atalar kıblegâhına.

Sonra cinsi bozuk, ahlâkı fena,
Bir sürü türedi, girdi meydana.
Nerden çıktı bunca veled-i zinâ?
Yuh olsun bunların ham ervâhına!

Bunlar halkı didik didik ettiler,
Katliâma kadar sürüp gittiler.
Saçak öpmeyenler, secde ettiler.
Bir asi zabitin pis külâhına.

Bugün varsa yoksa ..............,
Şöhretinde herkes fuzuli dellal;
Âlem-i mânâ'dan bak da ibret al,
Uğursuz taliin şu gümrâhına.

Haddi yok, açlıkla derde girenin,
Sehpâ-yı kazâya boyun verenin.
Lânetle anılan cebâbirenin
Bu, rahmet okuttu en küstâhına.

Çok kişiye şimdi vatan mezardır,
Herkesin belâdan nasîbi vardır,
Selâmetle eren pek bahtiyardır,
Bu şeb-i yeldânın şen sabahına.

Milliyet dâvâsı fıska büründü,
Ridâ-yı diyânet yerde süründü,
Türkün ruhu zorla âsi göründü,
Hem peygamberine, hem Allâh'ına.

Sen hafiyelerle dem sürdün ancak,
Bunlar her tarafa kurdu salıncak;
Eli,yüzü kanlı bir sürü alçak,
Kemend attı dehrin mihr-u mahına.

Bu itler nedense bana salmadı,
Bahalıydı başım kimse almadı,
Seyrandan başkaca iş de kalmadı;
Gurbet ellerinin bu seyyahına.

Hoş oldu cilvesi Cumhuriyetin,
Tadı kalmamıştı Meşrutiyetin,
Deccal'a dil çalan böyle milletin,
Bundan başka çare yok ıslahına.

Lâkin sen sultânım gavs-ı ekbersin
Âhiretten bile himmet eylersin,
Çok çekti şu millet murada ersin
Şefâat kıl şâhım mededhâhına.

Rıza Tevfik BÖLÜKBAŞI

Savaş!

Sultan İkinci Abdülhamid Han

Savaş yalnız sınırlarda olmaz. Savaş bir milletin topyekün ateşe girmesidir. Eğer bu bütünlük sağlanmamışsa zafer tesadüfi, yenilgi kaderdir.

Erdemler ve Kusurlar

Erdemlerimiz ve kusurlarımız birbirinden ayrılamaz, güç ve madde gibi. Onlar ayrıldığında insan bir hiçtir.
   Nikola Tesla

İnsanın Değeri

Lev Tolstoy

Bir insanı bulunduğu mevkiyle değil, göz koyduğu mevkiyle ölçmek gerekir.
Bir insanın değeri bayağı kesire benzer: Pay gerçek değerini gösterir, payda kendisini ne zannettiğini. Paydanın değeri arttıkça kesrin değeri azalır.
Bütün mutlu aileler birbirlerine benzerler, her mutsuz ailenin ise kendine özgü bir mutsuzluğu vardır.
   Lev Tolstoy

Roger Garaudy

Roger Garaudy(17 Temmuz 1913, Marsilya - ö. 13 Haziran 2012, Paris)

İslamın çağrısını Kapitalizmin beşiğinde duyup, davete icabet eden, İslam'ın çağrısının müdafii ve Emperyalizme karşı onurlu bir duruş ve direnişin sahibi Roger Garaudy, dostuna teslimiyetini bir kez daha ilan etti. Sözünü söyledi ve gitti. Sözün namusuna sahip çıkanlara selam olsun...
 1913 tarihinde Marsilya’da doğdu. İlk orta ve yüksek tahsilden sonra felsefe agrejesi (öğretim görevlisi) oldu. Marksist fikirlerin etkisinde kalarak ateşli savunuculuğunu yaptı. Gizli örgüt kurmak suçundan 1940’ta tutuklanarak gönderildiği kampta ayaklanmaya elebaşılık yaptığı için kurşuna dizilmek istendi.
 Ancak komutanın “Ateş!” emrine uymayan Cezayirli askerler sayesinde hayatı kurtuldu. Askerlere; “Niçin ateş etmediniz?” sorusuna bir çavuş; “Bir Müslüman savaşçı için, silahsız birine ateş etmek şerefsizliktir!” cevâbını vermesi Garaudy’in İslâm kültürüne yönelmesine sebeb oldu. Fakat komünist fikirleri savunmaya devam etti. 1945’te Fransız Komünist Parti Merkez Komite üyeliğine getirildi. Her iki Kurucu Mecliste de (1945-1951) Tarn Milletvekili olarak vazife yaptı.
 1953’te Maddeci Bilgi Teorisi (Théorie Matérialiste de la Connaissance) adlı doktora tezini verdi. Fransız Komünist Partisi siyâsî büro üyesi seçildi. Seine bölgesini Mecliste (1956-1958), sonra Senatoda (1959-1962) temsil etti. Clermont-Ferrand ve Poitiers Üniversitelerinde öğretim üyeliği yaptı. Fransa’da komünist sistemin ateşli savunucusuydu. Üniversiteden siyâset kürsülerine kadar Fransızlara ve batı dünyâsına Marksizm’i anlattı. İnsanların kurtuluşunun yalnız bu sistemle olacağını savundu. Fransız komünistlerinin en büyük rûh mîmârı sayıldı. Nerede komünistlerin düzenlediği bir miting, konferans ve seminer varsa oraya koştu. Katoliklik ve Hıristiyanlığa karşı kalemiyle ve hitâbetiyle büyük mücâdele verdi.
 Daha sonra Marksçı inceleme ve araştırma müdürü olarak vazife aldı. Bu vazifesi sırasında Hıristiyanlarla diyaloğu başlattı ve bu konuda çeşitli kitaplar yazdı. Aforozdan Diyaloğa (1965), Yirminci Yüzyıl Marksçılığı (1966) adlı eserleri bunlardandır. Roger Garaudy, 1968 Çekoslovakya olaylarından sonra Fransız Komünist Partisi idârecilerini Varşova Paktı birliklerinin Çekoslovakya’ya müdâhalesini onaylamamalarına rağmen gerçekte SSCB’yi desteklemekle ve Stalinci metodlara başvurmakla suçladı. Şubat 1970’te FKP siyâsî bürosundan ve Mayıs 1970’te de parti üyeliğinden atıldı. O târihten başlayarak düşüncelerini Marksçılıkla Hıristiyanlığın orta noktasında birleştirmeye çalıştı.
 Bu dönemde; Ertelenen Özgürlük (Liberdé en Sursis), Marksçılar ve Hıristiyanlar Karşı Karşıya (Marxistes et Chrétienes Kace á Kace), Sosyalizmin Büyük Dönemeci (Le Grand Tournant du Socialisme), İşte Gerçekler (Toute la Vérité), Erkek Sözü(Parole d’homme), Umut Projesi (Projet Espérance), Yaşayanlara Çağrı (Appel aux Vivants) ve Kadının Yükselişi İçin (Pour l’avénement de la Femme) adlı eserleri kaleme aldı. Hıristiyanlıkla sosyalizmin ortak noktalarını araştırıp yazmaya çalışması sebebiyle geniş kitlelerin ilgisini çekti. Tertiplenen çeşitli konferanslara, panellere ve ilmî toplantılara katılan Roger Garaudy’in ruhundaki fırtınalar dinmedi.
 Seneler önce tutuklu bulunduğu sırada, kurşuna dizileceği esnâda Cezâyirli Müslüman askerin; “Bir Müslüman savaşçı için, silahsız birine ateş etmek şerefsizliktir!” diyerek komutanın “Ateş!” emrine uymaması Roger Garaudy’i İslâmiyetle ilgili araştırmaya sevk etti. Senelerce yaptığı araştırma, inceleme ve karşılaştırmadan sonra 8 Nisan 1983 günü Libya’nın Bingâzi Karyünes Üniversitesinin konferans salonunda İslâmiyeti kabul ettiğini açıkladı. Hıristiyan ve komünist dünyâsında şok tesirine sebeb olan Roger Garaudy’in Müslüman oluşu haberi Batının sanat, edebiyat ve siyâset çevrelerinde bomba gibi patladı. Haber ajanslarının telekslerinde dünyâya ulaşan bu haberle Kremlin müthiş sarsıldı. Çünkü Garaudy uzun zaman Fransa’daki komünistlerin en büyük akıl hocası olarak tanınan bir bilim adamıydı.
 Roger Garaudy İslâm dînini seçmekle şereflendiğini şu sözleriyle dünyâya îlân etti: “İslâm, çağları arkasından sürükleyen bir dindir. Diğer dinler ise, çağların arkasında sürüklendi. Yâni, İslâm dışındaki bütün dinler zamana uyduruldu. Reforma tâbi tutuldu. Mukaddes kitaplar zamana göre tahrif edildi, değiştirildi. Kur’ân-ı kerîm ise indirildiği günden beri her zamana hükmetti. O, zamanı değil, zaman onu izledi. Zaman yaşlandıkça o gençleşti. Bu, çağlar üstü bir olaydır. Bugüne kadar bunca savaşların bıraktığı korkunç, sosyal, siyâsî ve ekonomik sarsıntılardan daha büyük bir olaydır. İslâm materyalizme de pozitivistlerin görüşüne de ekzistansiyalistlere de hâkimdir. Fakat bunlardan hiçbiri, İslâma hâkim değildir.
 İslâmın büyük Peygamberi; «Yarın ölecekmiş gibi âhirete, hiç ölmeyecekmiş gibi, dünyâya çalışın!» derken, her şeyi anlatmıştır. İslâm hem maddeye, hem de mânâya hükmetmiştir. Öyle ise, bunların ikisi birbirinden koparılamaz. Nasıl koparılabilir ki, İslâm: «İlim Çin’de de olsa gidip bulunuz.» «İlim ve fen müminin kaybolmuş malıdır, ara ve bul.» diyor. İlmin ve çalışmanın burada sınırı yoktur. İslâm, dünyâyı sarsan bu iki olaya sınır koymadığına göre, dünyâyı sarsmıştır. İslâm dînine göre, insan hayâtının anlamı yüce Allah’a îmândır. İslâm toplumu, îmân esasları üzerine kuruludur. Komünizm ve kapitalizmin insanlara huzur vermediğini bizzat yaşayarak öğrendim. Bir arayış sonrası İslâmiyetle şereflendim ve şimdi çok mutluyum.
 İslâmiyetin kendinden önceki vahiyleri ve peygamberleri kabul eden cihanşumûllüğünü gördüm. Müslüman olmaya karar verdim. Medîne’de hazret-i Muhammed’in meydana getirdiği toplum, ne kan üzerine kuruldu ne de tarım toplumlarında olduğu gibi toprağa dayalı veya Yunan sitelerindeki gibi pazara dayalı toplum kesimine kuruldu. Sâdece bir îmân sevgi toplumu meydana getirdi ve netice îtibâriyle herkese açık bir toplum meydana getirdi. Allahü teâlâyı her şeyden üstün kabul etmezsek, insanı bu şekilde, yâni kul olarak değerlendiremezsek bir yere varamayız. İşin esas püf noktası da burada. Hayâtın anlamı da, çok şükür benim de kavuştuğum îmânlı olmaktır. Bize bugün yeni dünyâ düzeni adı altında empoze edilmek istenen fikir, sömürgeciliğin meydana getirdiği şiddet, haksızlık ve adâletsizlikler düzeninin devamıdır.
 Hani İnsan Hakları Beyannâmesi, hani eşitlik, hani adâlet? Batının ortaya koyduğu demokrasi, mal, mülk sâhipleri için vardır. Zenginler için vardır. Siyahlara karşı beyazların, kölelere karşı efendilerin demokrasisi vardır. İslâm insanı, mahlûkların efdâli ve en şereflisi olarak bildirirken, onun sömürülemeyeceğini anlatmıştır. İsrâfı, gösterişi ve lüksü yasaklayan; kazancı alın terindeki damlacıklarda arayan; biriken sermâyeyi fakire ölçülü ve ahlâk hükümleri içinde aktaran; fâizi, tembelliğe sebeb olduğu için yasaklayan ve gayrimeşrû serveti böylece imhâ eden bir sistemler manzûmesidir.
 İslâm, halîfe ile kölenin aynı hakka sâhib olmasını mecbur kılmıştır. Deve olayı vardır ki, bu kralların kılıçlarından daha keskin bir hâdisedir: Hazret-i Ömer ile kölesi bir şehirden bir şehre giderken deveye sıra ile binerler. Zaman zaman, devenin yularını halîfe çeker, zaman zaman da köle... İşte adâlet ve hukukta İslâmın devrimidir bu. Marksizm ile kapitalizmin ikisi de, insanı sömüren sistemlerdir. İslâm bunlara karşı, insana prestijini iâde eden bir semâvî dindir.”

Çöl Arslanı Ömer Muhtar

Ömer Muhtar (1862 - 1931)
Libya’daki direnişin öncüsü ve sembolü Ömer Muhtar, 1862 yılında Libya’nın Defne bölgesinin Batnan kasabasında doğdu. Annesinin ismi Aişe binti Muharib’tir. Ömer Muhtar ilk öğrenimini babası Muhtar’dan aldı. Babası 1878 yılında Hac vazifesini yerine getirirken vefat edince onun ve kardeşi Muhammed’in yetiştirilmesini babasının yakın arkadaşı Seyyid El Giryani üstlendi. Giryani, Ömer Muhtar’ı ve kardeşini Cağbub’taki İslâmi Bilimler Akademisi’ne yazdırdı ve Ömer Muhtar burada sekiz yıl köklü bir din eğitimi aldı. Öğrenim görürken bir yandan da kendisini sanat dallarında yetiştirdi ve marangozluk, ziraatçılık, demircilik ve duvar ustalığı gibi el becerilerini elde etti.

Muhtar’ın liderlik vasfı ve saygın kişiliği kendisine önemli görevler verilmesini sağladı. Cağbub Üniversitesi’nin temsilcisi olarak Sudan ve Mısır’a gönderildi. Çeşitli heyetlere başkanlık da yapan Ömer Muhtar, kabilelerin arasında çıkan anlaşmazlıklarda arabulucu olarak görev aldı. Çağbub Üniversitesi’ndeki eğitimini tamamladıktan sonra Kasur zaviyesinin başına getirildi. Daha sonra güneydeki Ayn Kalak zaviyesi şeyhliğine atandı. Gayretleri ile bu bölgeye Fransız işgal güçlerinin girmesini engelledi. Daha sonra tekrar Kasur zaviyesi imamlığına getirildi ve bu görevini İtalya’nın Libya’ya saldırdığı 1911 yılına kadar sürdürdü.

SENUSİ HAREKETİ
Ömer Muhtar birçok Kuzey Afrikalı Müslüman gibi Senusi tarikatına mensuptu. 19.yy’da Kuzey Afrika’da teşekkül eden bu tasavvuf ekolu kısa zamanda çok hızlı bir inkişaf göstermiş, içinde barındırdığı dinamizm ile Sömürgeci güçlere karşı Afrika Müslümanların soluğunu daima diri ve taze tutmuştur.

Bir tasavvuf ekolünden ziyade bir ıslahat hareketi olarak görülebilecek Senusi hareketi, tarikat ve tasavvufu asli güzelliğine döndürmeyi, onu bir miskinler ocağı olmaktan çıkarıp, hayatın her yönünü kucaklayan bir hizmet kurumuna dönüştürmeyi hedef almıştı. Merhum allame Üstad Ebul hasen en Nedvi “Hakiki tasavvuf” adlı eserinde Senusiliğin tasavvufla cihadı, mücahedeyle mücadeleyi birleştirmenin en parlak örneği olduğunu dile getirmekdir. İslâmi diriliş hareketleri adlı eserinde Mustafa İslamoğlu'nun tespiti de aynı istikamettedir: "Mücadele ve mücahede alanlarının hepsinde birden seferberlik ilan edip iki kanatla birlikte uçabilme iftiharı son iki yüzyıllık İslami diriliş tarihinde sadece Senusilere aittir.”

İTALYA’NIN LİBYA’YA SALDIRMASI
Batılı devletlerinin sömürge kurma yarışında çok geç kalan İtalya uzun zamandır Libya topraklarına göz dikmiş, fakat Abdülhamit'in dirayetli idaresi sayesinde buna fırsat bulamamıştı. İtalyanlar, Abdülhamid’in tahttan düşürülmesinden sonra bu fırsatı bulabilmişti. Mısır’ın İngiliz işgalinde olması, Osmanlı devletinin deniz gücünün neredeyse olmaması vs. gibi sebeblerden dolayı, İtalyanlar, 27 Eylül 1911’de Osmanlı hükümetine verdikleri ültimatomla Trablusgarb’a çıkartma yaptılar. İtalya askeri yetkililerinin hesabı işgalin 15 günde tamamlanacağı yönündeydi. Fakat bir avuç Osmanlı kuvveti ile dayanışma içindeki Libya halkı büyük bir direniş sergiledi. İtalyan askerleri kıyıdaki sahil kentlerinin çevresinde sıkışıp kaldı. Savaş çıkmaza girdi.

Balkan harbinin başlaması ile İtalya ile uzlaşma yoluna giden Osmanlı devleti’nin zaten az sayıda olan kuvvetlerinin çekilmesi ile Libya halkı İtalyan güçleri ile başbaşa kaldı. Bu sırada umum Senusi mücahidinin başı Seyyid Ahmed eş Şerif es Senusi idi. Senusi hareketi ilgili bir çalışma hazırlayan Kadir Özköse bey, Seyyid Ahmed için şunları söylemektedir: “Kuzey Afrika’nın sömürgeci yöneticilerine, hiçbir isim, onun ki kadar uykusuz geceler geçirtmedi. Hatta 19. yüzyılda Cezayirli kahraman Emir Abdülkadir’in veya Fransız yönetiminin başına büyük belalar açan Faslı Abdülkerim’in ismi bile.”

İtalyan güçlerini kıyıya sıkıştıran mücahidler, son darbe için hazırlık yapıyorlardı. Kendisine yapılan barış tekliflerini elinin tersi ile iten Seyyid Ahmed şöyle haykırıyordu: “Gençleri ihtiyarlatacak kadar şiddetli ve uzun sürecek bir savaş istiyoruz; günden güne şiddet ve ciddiyet kazanmakta olan bu savaş yalnız yöresiyle sınırlı kalmayacaktır. Etrafımda “La ilahe illallah Muhammed’un Resulullah” hükmünü kabul eden bulundukça, ruhum bedeninde kaldıkça, hatta Trablus’un dışında bile cihadı sürdürmemiz mümkün olcaktır. Şimdiki gibi binlerce,milyonlarca sadık mücahid bulunduğu zaman değil, belki yanımda bir gülle, bir fişek kaldığı zaman bile barışa gelemem.”

Tam bu sırada Senusi hareketinin ve de Libya halkının kaderini etkileyecek bir olay gerçekleşti ve I. Dünya Savaşı patlak verdi. Seyyid Ahmed, bu savaşa girme taraftarı değildi. Zira Libya’nın tek yardım kapısı olan Mısır’da hareketlerine göz yuman İngilizlere hücum etmek intiharla eş anlamlıydı. Osmanlı devlet erkanının planı ise, Mısır üzerine yapılacak kanal harekatında, Senusi güçlerinin Libya tarafından vurmasıyla İngilizleri Mısır’da boğmaktı. Senusi kamplarına gelen Osmanlı subayları, Seyyid Ahmed’i iknada çok zorlandılar. Almanya’nın gücünü, Mısır’ın Osmanlı idaresine geçmesi ile mücahidlerin Libya’da rahat bir nefes alacağını izah etmeye çalıştılar. Fransız ve İtalyanlar’la birlikte bir üçüncü cephe açmak istemeyen şeyh, sonunda gittikçe artan ısrarlar karşısında kerhen de olsa, Senusi mücahidlerine İngiliz hududuna saldırı emrini verdi.

İngiliz güçlerinin şaşkınlığı sebebiyle hızlı bir ilerleme gösteren Senusi kuvvetleri, İngilizlerin karşı hücuma geçmesi ile ağır kayıplara uğrayıp, Trablus’un iç kesimlerine çekilmek zorunda kaldılar. Öte yandan, Süveyş kanalı civarında Cemal paşa emrindeki Osmanlı birliklerinin başarısız harekatları bütün planları suya düşürdü. Ve bu anlamsız hücum Senusilerin Mısır erzak yolunu tehlikeye düşürmekten başka hiçbir işe yaramadı. Senusi şeyhi, bu ağır yenilgiden sonra bir kere daha Osmanlı devlet adamlarının iknasına boyun eğdi ve halifenin çağrısı üzerine mücadeleyi yarıda bırakarak bir denizaltı ile payitahta geldi ve 1933’te vefatına kadar bir daha Libya’yı göremedi. İstanbul’da büyük şâşâ ile karşılanan, yoğun ilgiye mazhar olan bu büyük mücahidi daha sonra Kuva-i milliyeye destek için Anadolu’yu karış karış gezerken görüyoruz. (Seyyid Ahmed’in hayatı için bkz.Muhammed Senusi-Kadir Özköse-İnsan yayınları-İstanbul-2000)

Seyyid Ahmed’in ayrılması ile yerine Seyyid Muhammed İdris geçti. Bu sıralar İtalya büyük çalkantılar içindeydi. 1922’den itibaren Benito Mussolini liderliğinde Faşistlerin İtalya’da egemenliği ele geçirmesi, Libya üzerindeki kara bulutların daha da artmasına sebeb oldu. İtalya’yı Roma imparatorluğu devrindeki azametine döndürme hülyaları kuran İtalyan “Duçe”si, Trablusgarb’taki direnişin ezilmesini, Senusi mukavemetinin kırılmasını birinci öncelikli iş olarak görüyordu. Evvel emirde İdris Senusi ile yaptıkları tüm anlaşmaları fesheden İtalyanlar, 1923 yılında ikinci işgallerine başladılar.

Merhum Muhammed Esed’in ifadesiyle “eline kılıçtan çok kalemin yakıştığı” Emir İdris ise beklenen İtalyan saldırısı öncesi Libya’yı terk ederek Mısır’a yerleşti. Yerine kardeşi Muhammed Rıza ile amcazadesi seyyid Seyfeddin’i vekil bıraktı. Fakat onlar da, kendisi gibi cihadın yükünü ve liderliğini yapabilecek şahsiyetler değillerdi. Ani İtalyan baskını ile bir an afallayan mücahidler, kısa bir süre içinde bir büyük liderin etrafında toparlandılar. Daha önceki muharebelerde askeri dehası ile Osmanlı subaylarının dahi dikkatini çeken ve bir Senusi liderinin “Onun gibi on insan olsaydı, bize yeterdi” dediği bu kahraman Ömer Muhtardı.

ÖMER MUHTAR’IN HAREKETİN LİDERLİĞİNİ ÜSTLENMESİ
Ömer Muhtar direnişin liderliğini üstlendikten sonra, emrindeki kabileleri 100-300 silahlı atlı ya da yaya olarak küçük grublar halinde organize etti. Bu güçler birer vurucu tim şeklinde idi. Çok hızlı ve seri hareket kabiliyetleri ile İtalyan askeri kollarına, nakliyelerine, karakollara baskınlar yapıyor ve bir anda ortadan kayboluyorlardı. Ömer Muhtar, emrindeki güçler ile İtalyan kuvvetleri arasında, 1923’ten 1932’ye kadar her yıl en az elliden fazla muharebe, ikiyüzden fazla küçük ölçekli çatışma cereyan ediyordu.

İtalyanların savaştığı sadece organize edilmiş bir kısım Senusi birlikleri değildi. Topyekün Libya halkına karşı savaşıyorlardı. Tam bir abluka ve çember içindeki halk bir ölüm-kalım savaşı vermekteydi. Ömer Muhtar, hereketin merkezi olarak karargahını Calu vahasının Cebel-i Ahdar (Yeşil dağ) bölgesine kurdu. Her başarılı lider gibi Ömer Muhtar da istihbarata çok önem vermekteydi. Korkuyu kaçışı akıllarından silmiş bulunan Senusi kuvvetleri, İtalyan garnizonları arasında mekik dokumaya başladılar. Hatta bedevi çoban kılığına girerek İtalyan birliklerinin arasında dolaşmakta ve onların hareket stratejilerini daima kontrol etmekteydiler. Senusilerin giriştikleri çarpışmalar belirsiz ama yaygın bir hal arz etmekte, saldırılar akıl almaz bir halde sürmekteydi.

İtalya’nın Sireneyka valisi Teruzzi, İtalyan birliklerinin içine düştüğü çıkmazı şöyle anlatmaktaydı: “İtalyanların, Senusiler karşısındaki askeri üstünlükleri beş para etmemekteydi. Çünkü savaştığımız güçler düzenli bir ordu değildi. Karşı güçler bir insicam içerisinde hareket etmekteydi. Güçler aynı pozisyonda olsa, ayaklanmaların bastırılması sözkonusu olabilirdi. İtalyan birliklerin çoğu hep savunma durumunda kaldı. Senusilerin direnişi karşısında 5000-10.000 kişilik ordularımız başarılı olamamaktaydı. Çünki mücahidler hiçbir kayıt ve engel tanımamaktaydılar. Zaten kaybedecekleri neleri kalmıştı ki?...Onlar için, esaret ölümden daha beterdi. Yaşadıklari topraklarda boyunduruk altında bulunmayi zulüm saymaktaydılar. Bugün bir yerde ortaya çıksalar, yarın 50 km ötede, ertesi gün 100 km ötede gün yüzüne çıkarlardı. Bir ay ortadan kaybolur, bir süre sonra masum bedevi kılığına girdikleri olurdu. Ya da ormanlıklara dalarak izlerini kaybettirirlerdi. Küçük grublar halinde bulunan, yakalanması mümkün olmayan, çevik, atak, hızlı hareket eden bu ateş parçalarına karşı güçlü askeri birliklerin ne anlamı vardı ki...Gündüzleri biz İtalyanlar, geceleri Senusiler hakim oluyordu.”

Mücahidlerin kesin başarısı için iyi bir teşkilatlanma gerekiyordu. Bu da bir kısım ekonomik ve askeri yardımları gerektiriyordu. Ömer Muhtar, bir ara bunu temin için gizlice Mısır’a gitti ve İdris senusi ile bir takım görüşmelerde bulundu. Ancak İdris, Mısır ve İtalyan hükümetlerinin arasını açmamak için böyle bir yardımı kabul etmedi. Ömer Muhtar’ın Mısır’da olduğunu öğrenen İtalyan gizli haber alma örgütü, onun barış masasına oturması için ikna etmek üzerine bazı ajanlarını Mısır’a gönderdi. Bu ajanlar Ömer Muhtar'ı Mısır’da bulup ona kendilerine göre cazip tekliflerde bulundular. Eğer cihad hareketinden vazgeçer ve teslim olursa kendisine Bingazi’de en güzel bir köşk, hayatının sonuna kadar rahat yaşayacağı yüklü bir maaş, ve ekonomik yardımlar teklif ettilerse de, bu büyük dava adamından tarihi bir şamar yiyerek elleri boş dönmek zorunda kaldılar. Şöyle kükremişti Çöl Arslanı: “Ben her isteyenin böyle kolayca yutabileceği bir lokma değilim...beni kimse imanım, davam ve cihadımdan alıkoyamayacaktır. Allah onların iştahlarını kursaklarında bırakacaktır.”

İdris es Senusi ile yaptığı görüşmelerden ümidini kesen Ömer Muhtar, Mısır’lı müslümanların kısmi yardımlarını alarak, beraberindeki heyet ile Cebelü’l-Ahdar’a döndü. Dönüş yolunda İtalyanlar tarafından planlanan bir suikast da başarısızlıkla sonuçlandı.

1 Şubat 1924 tarihinde Seyyid Ahmed eş Şerif’e yazdığı mektupta haklı olarak şunları ifade ediyordu: “Selamdan sonra...Biliniz ki biz vatanımızın acıklı ve ıstırablı bir hayat yaşayan evlatlarıyız. Vatan, istila kuvvetlerinin çizmeleri altında inliyorken, İdris es Senusi çıkıp Mısır’a gitti. Arkasından İtalyanlar, yapılan bütün anlaşmaları iptal ettiler. İdris, bizi bırakıp Mısır’a iltica etti. Biz ise, kendimizi son derece dağınık bir vaziyette bulduk. Gittiği yönü, doğu ve batısını bilmeyen ve denizin ortasında yüzen bir gemi gibi terkedildik. Sen de aynı şekilde bizi bırakıp Türkiye’ye gitmeyi tercih ettin. Şunu bilin ki, vallahi, vallahi ve sümme vallahi sizi yakalarınızdan yakalayacağımız günler olacak... Sübhanallah... Tatlı olduğu ve meyve verdiği günlerde vatanınıza sahip çıkıyordunuz da, acıklı günlerde nasılda terkedip gidiyorsunuz? Mısır’a, İdris’in yanına vardık. Ondan yardım istedik. Fakat bize, “gidin, kendi başınızın çaresine bakın, bizim size yapabileceğimiz hiçbir yardım yoktur” diye bizi eliboş gönderdi. Yanaklarımızı sulayan acı gözyaşlarımızla, Mısır’dan cephemize döndük. Ancak, şunu iyi biliniz ki, biz Allah’a tevekkül ederek vatanımıza geri döndük ve kanımızın son damlasına kadar dinimizi, vatanımızı ve canlarımızı savunarak asla düşmana teslim olmamak üzere ahdettik. Ancak yine de bir çok şeye muhtacız. Özellikle silah, sonra para, yiyecek ve giyeceğe şiddetle muhtacız. Yardımcımız Allah’tır, Allah...Acele edin...Yardımda süratli davranın imkanınız ne elverirse, az veya çok demeyin.”

Mücahidler binbir yokluk içinde kıvranırken, işgal güçleri, modernize olmuş birlikleri ile artık kesin bir darbe için hazırlanıyorlardı. Kuvvet dengesi olmayan bu çirkin savaşta, İtalyanlar için her şey mübahtı. Direniş güçlerinin halktan yardım görmelerini engellemek için bölgedeki hayvanlar telef edilmekte, mahsuller, ürünler zarara uğratılmakta ve ormanlar yakılmaktaydı. İtalyanlar bu ikinci işgal döneminde hava kuvvetlerini ve zırhlı araçları azami bir şekilde kullandı. Bu da mücahid kayıplarının giderek artmasına sebep oluyordu. Ormanlıkların ateşe verilip, ortadan kaldırılması sonucu, gerilla güçlerinin seyri kolaylıkla kontrol edilebilir hale gelmişti. İtalyanlar sadece 1923-1929 yıllları arasında 141.766 küçük ve büyük baş hayvanı katlettiler. Yine bu yıllar şehid edilen mücahid rakamı İtalyan verilerine göre 4329’du.

Fakat bütün önlemlere rağmen Libya halkının direnişi, Senusi mukavemeti kırılamıyordu. Roma hükümeti beş sene içinde Sireneyka’ya beş vali göndermek zorunda kaldı;Bongiovanni, Mombelli, Teruzzi, Siciliani ve son olarak meşhur Graziani.

"Biz asla teslim olmayız. Ya kazanırız,ya ölürüz. Bizden sonraki nesillerle de savaşacaksınız. Bana gelince. Ben, cellatlarımdan daha uzun yaşayacağım." Ömer Muhtar

ÖLÜM KALIM SAVAŞI
İtalyanların üstün silah ve insan gücüne karşı mücahidler inatçı bir direniş sergilediler. Çatışmaların dozu gün gittikçe arttı. Bazı araştırmacılar sadece 20 aylık bir zaman diliminde Senusi güçleri ile İtalyan ordusu arasında 263 çarpışma geçtiğini belirtmektedirler ki, bu da mücadelenin şiddeti konusunda bize bir fikir vermektedir. İtalyan kuvvetleri ilk yıllarda ciddi kayıplara uğradılar ve mücahidîne karşı bir üstünlük sağlayamadılar. Mesela Haziran 1923’de Sirte’de meydana gelen bir çatışmada İtalyanlar 13 subay ve 300 asker kayıp verdiler. Genel itibarıyla mücahidler karşısında perişan olan İtalyanlar hınçlarını masum halktan çıkarıyorlardı. Bu ise direnişe olan desteğin gittikçe artmasına sebep oldu ve Mussolini’nin dediği gibi “Siri, yeşil bitki örtüsüyle kan rengine bulandı.”

1927 yılı mücahidler için zaferlerle dolu olarak geçti. Mart ayında İtalyanların 7 taburundan 50 askeri araç pusuya düşürüldü. Üç yüzden fazla İtalyan askerinin öldürüldüğü bu çatışma ile alakalı İtalyan general Mezetti şöyle demektedir: “Mart 1927’de gerillalar bize karşı önemli bir başarı kazanmıştır. Toplam 1200 piyade ve 400 süvari gücüyle, Kaulan-Gerrari-Maaua-Gerdes Abid boyunca uzanan hatlarımızı yararak Cebelü’l Ahdar’ın merkezini ele geçirdiler. Cebel’den Bir Gandula, Sira, Kasr Benigdem, Gergerumma ve sahile kadar uzanan karakollarıyla bizim işgal kuvvetimizi iki kısma böldüler. Kuf bölgelerinde 200 faal asker gerillaların emrinde bulunuyordu.”

Yine bu dönemdeki çatışmalarda mücahidler pek çok düşman uçağını düşürdüler, çok sayıda üst rütbeli subayı öldürdüler. Ve fazla miktarda cephane ve topu ganimet olarak kazandılar. Buna karşı İtalyanlar da yeni tedbirler düşünmeye başlamışlardı. Öncelikle cepheyi içten çökertmenin yollarını aradılar ve kesenin ağzını açtılar. Böylece 13 tane kabile şeyhini satın aldılar. Bu işlerin gerçekleşmesinde Ömer Muhtar’ın çocukluk arkadaşı, Senusi davasına ihanet eden Senusi şeyhi Şerif el Giryani önemli bir rol oynadı.

CEPHEDE SARSINTI
 Savaşın gittikçe uzaması, katliam ve kıtlığın insanları telef etmesi, İtalyanların bazı kabile reislerini vaatlerle kandırması mücahit cephesinde bir karışıklığa sebep oldu. Çeşitli kabile şeyhleri Ömer Muhtar’a İtalyanlara teslim olmasını ve bölgelerinden çekilip gitmesini, aksi takdirde kendisi ile savaşacaklarını ilettiler. Böyle tehlikeli bir vaziyette metanetini elden bırakmayan Ömer Muhtar bütün kabile reislerini umumi meşverete davet etti. Kasr el Mecahir’de akdedilen geniş çaplı toplantıda herkes özgürce reyini ortaya koydu. Ortamın alabildiğine gergin ve elektrikli olduğu bir anda Ömer Muhtar sürekli cebinde taşıdığı küçük mushafını çıkararak elini onun üzerine koydu ve tarihe geçen şu mükemmel sözlerle herkesi susturdu: “Vallahi, Ya zafer veya şehadete ermeden bu dağları terk etmeyeceğim ve İtalyanlara karşı devam eden bu savaşı asla durdurmayacağım. Mısır’a gitmek isteyenler buyurup gitsinler, İtalyanlara teslim olup ölümden kurtulmak isteyenler de teslim olsunlar, hiç kimse onları tutmuş değildir.”

Liderin bu kesin azmi ve kararlılığı karşısında teklif sahipleri özür dilediler ve bu toplantı büyük bir vahdet havası içinde sona erdi.

ARTAN BASKILAR
İtalyanlar bir halk hareketi karşısında olduklarının farkındaydılar. General Mezzetti bir raporunda buna şöyle değiniyor: “Direniş buralarda tarihe mal olmuştur ve kural tanımayan bu insanlara tarih boyunca silahlı kuvvet zoruyla kanun ve nizam empoze edilebilmişti. Cihad ruhuna sahip bu göçer insanları çiftlik sahalarına ve şehirlere çekmeden pek fazla bir şeyin değişmeyeceğini söyleyebiliriz.”

İtalyanlar Senusi mukavemetinin kaynağını kurutmak üzere halkı sahil şehirlere yakın yerlerde kurdukları esir kamplarında toplamaya başladılar. 1929 yılına gelindiğinde durum şu vaziyette idi; sahildeki bütün şehirler ve Cebel-i Ahdar’ın kuzey tarafları İtalyanların sıkı kontrolü altındaydı. İtalyanlar bu tahkim edilmiş noktalar arasında hava filoları ile, mekanize birlikleriyle ve özellikle sömürgeleri olan Eritre’den getirdikleri zavallı insanlardan oluşturdukları piyade askerleri ile sürekli devriye geziyorlardı. Artık gerillaya karşı onun usulüyle çarpışıyorlardı. Senusi mukavemetinin belkemiğini oluşturan bedevilerin beklenmedik saldırılara, hava baskınlarına uğramadan bölgede dolaşmaları hemen hemen imkansız gibiydi. Bir bedevi kampını keşfeden keşif uçakları çoğu zaman telsizle durumu en yakın İtalyan birliğine haber veriyor ve uçaklardan açılan makineli tüfek ateşi kamp sakinlerinin toparlanıp bir yere sığınmalarını önlerken, nereden çıktığı belli olmayan bir kaç zırhlı araç kampı kuşatıp, namlularını dosdoğru çadırlara, develere, kadın, çocuk, yaşlı ayırımı gözetmeksizin insanlara çevirerek kampları yerle bir ediyorlardı. Bu katliamdan sonra sağ kalan canlılarsa sürüler halinde zırhlı araçların önüne katılıp kuzeye doğru, İtalyanların sahil yakınlarında kurdukları müstahkem toplama kamplarına götürülüyorlardı.

Buna rağmen mukavemet durmuyordu. General Mezzetti, 1 Aralık 1928’de yazdığı raporunda şöyle diyor: “Bölgede siyasi ve askeri bir organizasyon gerçekleşmeden, Ömer Muhtar’ın siyasi ve askeri örgütünün çökertilmesi ve bölgenin kontrol altına alınması mümkün değildir.”

MÜTAREKE GÖRÜŞMELERİ
1929’da Valiliğe atanan Badoglio, genel af ilan etti ve teslim olmayıp direnişe devam edecekleri, kötü bir şekilde bastıracağını bildirdi. Öyle ki, Badoglio, “Berka Kasabı” namıyla anılır oldu. Ama ne halka karşı savurduğu tehditler, ne de af söylentisinin çok büyük bir tesiri görülmedi. Şubat-Mart 1929’da gerilla saldırıları daha da arttı. Ömer Muhtar, İtalyan güçlerinin yoğun bombardımanları altında büyük bir direniş sergiledi. Fakat savaşa kısa bir süre ara verilmesi mücahidlerce de uygun olacaktı. Ömer Muhtar ve arkadaşları 13 Haziran’da vali yardımcısı Sciliani, 18 Haziranda Badoglio ve 28 Haziranda tekrar Sciliani ile Cebel’in değişik yerlerinde görüşmeler yaptılar. İki aylık süren mütarekenin sadece bir oyalamadan ibaret olduğunu gören Ömer Muhtar, Ekim ayında mütarekeyi bozdu ve çatışmalar tekrar başladı.
8 Kasım 1929’da Mücahidler Bingazi’deki İtalyan karargahına saldırı düzenlediler. Buradaki İtalyan birliğini tamamen ortadan kaldırıp, karargahı havaya uçurdular. Bu ise sömürgeciler arasında büyük bir şaşkınlık doğurdu. Sonunda Mussolini duruma el attı ve harekatın başına general Rodolfo Graziani getirildi.(10 Ocak 1930)

GRAZİANİ
Graziani sömürgelerde özel olarak yetiştirilmiş, komutanların en tecrübeli ve en acımasız olanıydı. Önce bir analiz yapan General, durumu şöyle özetlemekteydi: “Savaş hali kızışmıştır. Müslümanların kayıpları cüzidir. Ömer Muhtar yaralanmasına rağmen, hala yeni taktiklerle saldırılarını düzenlemektedir. Direniş Senusi kaynaklıdır. Bu hareket, bir grup veya bir şahsa indirgenemez. Gerektiğinde yeni kitle ve dipdiri başka bir liderle hareket devam edecektir.” Bu analizleri yapan Graziani şu tedbirleri aldı:

1-Senusi tekkelerini kapattı, şeyhlerini yurt dışına sürdü, malvarlıklarına el koydu.
2-Halkın silahsızlandırmasına büyük ağırlık verdi, silah aramalarını arttırdı.
3-Seyyar mahkemeler kurdurup halka kan kusturdu. Bu mahkemelerin çoğu idam ile neticelendi.
4-Toplama kamplarını genişletti ve bütün bir ülkeyi abluka altına aldı. Kamplardaki yaşama koşulları tam bir vahşet örneğiydi. Bu kadar insanın dörtte birini bile doyuracak erzak yoktu. Esirler ve gasp edilen hayvanlar arasında ölüm oranı tüyler ürperticiydi.
5-Mısır hududunda 300 km’lik bir alanı dikenli tel örgülerle sardı.
6-Çöl yollarını uçak devriyeleriyle sürekli gözetim altında bulundurdu
7-İtalyan hükümetinin emrinde çalışan yerli memur ve askerleri hainlikle suçlayıp pasifize etti.
8-Mısırla olan her türlü ticareti yasakladı, Cebel-i Ahdar halkının ekonomisini kontrol altına aldı.

Bütün bu tedbirlerden sonra müslümanlara karşı ard arda bir çok baskınlar ve saldırılar düzenlendi. Baskınlar sürmesine rağmen Ömer Muhtar hala operasyonlarına devam ediyordu. 11 Nisan 1930’da El Faidiyye üzerinde büyük bir saldırı düzenleyen mücahidler, İtalyanları unutamayacakları bir hezimete uğrattılar. Graziani, bu hususta hatıralarında şunları kaydeder: “Bu hezimet bizim moralimizi bir hayli bozup kalplerimize büyük bir sıkıntı verdi. Buna karşılık bu yenilgimiz, mücahidlere büyük bir moral verip, maneviyatlarını bir hayli kuvvetlendirmişti. Bunun üzerine Ömer Muhtar, mücahidlere hitaben şöyle seslenmişti. “Şayet Bingazi’den Cebel’ül Ahdar’a doğru gürleyen bir aslan sesi işitirseniz, sakın korkmayın. Zira olaylar ve zafer dolu günler size aslan kürkü içinde yatan bir eşşeğin olduğunu gösterecektir.”

Graziani bunun üzerine, 16 Haziran 1930’da bizzat koordine ettiği birliklerle(13.000 kişi) Fayed bölgesindeki Ömer Muhtar’ın üzerine yürüdü. Başaracağından o kadar emindi ki, Vali Badoglio’yu zaferini kutlamaya davet ediyordu. Fakat çok güçlü bir istihbarata sahip Ömer Muhtar, mücahid kuvvetlerini küçük gruplara ayırarak birbirinden uzak noktalara pusuya yerleştirdi. Sonuçta müslümanlar çok az bir kayıp vererek Graziani’yi eli boş gönderdiler.

Bu şok yenilgiden sonra Badoglio, Graziani’ye gönderdiği mektupta şöyle yazmaktaydı: “Şimdiye kadar Siri’de “uzun menzilli” diye adlandırdığınız, uzak noktalardan gelip bir hedefe hareket eden harekatlarınız hep başarısız olmuştur. Ve mevcut şartlar değişmedikçe de her zaman başarısızlığa mahkum kalacaktır. Çünkü, bu son olaydaki yenilgi ilk olan yenilgi değildi. Halk ve sahradakiler, zaten güçlü bir istihbarata sahip direnişçilerle öyle bir iş birliği içindedirler ki, bizim attığımız adımdan anında haberdar olmaktadırlar. Ömer Muhtar’ın başarısını bu haber alma servisine bağlamak gerektir.”

Badoglio, düşmanı Ömer Muhtar’ın dehası içinde şu itirafları yapmak zorunda kalmıştı: “Bu direniş bir kişinin omuzlarındadır. Ömer Muhtar, bu işi kimseye bırakmamaktadır. Bir çok başlı durumlarda kıskançlık ve iç çekişmeye imkan olsa da, Ömer Muhtar’ın disiplinli dava arkadaşları buna fırsat bırakmıyorlar. Her zaman ve durumda, sözü emir sayılmaktaydı. Savaş aleyhine geliştiğinde, güçlü haber alma servisi sayesinde, savaşa ara veriyor. Bize gelen bilgileri dahi yönlendirebiliyor.”

HAREKATTA DÖNÜM NOKTASI:KUFRA’NIN DÜŞÜŞÜ
Graziani, hem prestijini kurtarmak hem de mücahidlerin Mısır hududundan yardım almalarının önünü kesmek için seleflerin yapamadığı bir işe karar verdi. Libya’nın güneyinde İtalyanların ulaşamadığı tek toprak parçası olan Kufra’yı işgal etmek. 1930’un sonlarında yapılan hazırlıklardan sonra, 1931 Ocak ayında çöl aşıldı ve Kufra düştü. İtalyanların burada yaptığı katliam, işkence ve tecavüzler dillere destandır. Graziani, teslim olan halkın gözleri önünde Kur’an-ı Kerim’i paramparça edip, ayaklarının altında çiğneyerek “Haydi, çağırın da (hâşâ) bedevi peygamberiniz yardımınıza gelsin” demiş, ertesi günü şehrin ileri gelen uleması uçaklardan atılmış, vahadaki bütün hurma ağaçları kesilmiş, kuyular yakılmış, Mehdi Senusi’ye ait tarihi kütüphane alevlere teslim edilmiş ve insanların namusları kirletilmişti.

Kufra’nın elden çıkmasıyla mücahidlerin elinde korunmasız Cebel’ül Ahdar kalıyordu ki, burası da İtalyanların gittikçe sıklaşan kontrol ve gözetimleri altında her gün adım adım elden çıkıyor,yavaş yavaş fakat geri dönülmez bir biçimde çember daralıyordu.Artık Cebeldeki savaşın son devresi başlamıştı... Ömer Muhtar, bu durumu 1931 Ocağının son günlerinde Mısır hududunu gizlice geçip, kendisiyle görüşen Muhammed Esed’e şöyle ifade etmişti: “Sen de görüyorsun ya evlat, gerçekten biz artık bize tanınan vadenin sonuna gelmişiz. Savaşıyoruz, çünkü düşmanı bu topraklardan söküp atıncaya kadar ya da bu uğurda ölünceye kadar imanımız ve özgürlüğümüz için savaşmak zorundayız. Başka yolu yok. Allah’a aidiz ve O’na döneceğiz. Kadınlarımızı, çocuklarımızı Mısır’a gönderdik ki, Cenab-ı Allah bizi ölüme çağırdığı zaman arkamıza dönüp bakmayalım.”

ESİR DÜŞMESİ VE VEFATI
Ve 11 Eylül 1931...Ömer Muhtar ve yanındaki bir kısım mücahidîn Sılanta mevkiinde bulunan Hz. Muhammed (S.A.V.)’ın sahabelerinden Sidi Rafi hazretlerinin kabrini ziyaret etmeye karar verdikleri zaman İtalyanların tuttuğu bölgenin içersine girmişlerdi. İtalyan istihbaratı onun varlığını haber almıştı. Vadiyi her yönden saran kuvvetlerin oluşturduğu çemberi yarmanın imkanı yoktu. Mücahidler son nefeslerine kadar çarpıştılar. Son anda Seydi Ömer’in de atı vurulup yıkıldı ve onu yere düşürdü. Ama bu yetmişini geçkin ihtiyar aslan yılmadı, kendini toparlayıp tüfeğini ateşlemeye devam etti. Elinden yaralananınca tüfeği diğer eline aldı. Artık yapacak bir şey kalmayınca, askerler üzerine çullandılar ve onu esir ettiler. Önce Sûse’ye sonra Bingazi’ye 60 km uzaklıktaki Suluk’a götürüldü. Burada İtalyan birliklerinin genel kumandanı Graziani’nin karşısına çıkartıldı. Bu görüşmedeki tavırlarından etkilenen general onun hakkında şunları yazacaktır: “Odama girdiği andan çıkıp gittiği ana kadar onun vakar ve haysiyetine son derece hayranlıkla bakıp durdum. Onun tavır ve davranışlarını çok beğendim ve hayran kaldım.”

Graziani, hatıralarında Ömer Muhtar hakkında şunları demekten kendini alamaz. “Ömer Muhtar inancına, akidesine son derece bağlı bir adamdı. Onun bu inancına saldırmaya kalkışana kim olursa olsun büyük bir heyecan ve azimle karşı koyardı. O, vatanına saldıranlara karşı da korkusuzca savaşıyordu. Vatanına yapılacak herhangi bir saldırıyı karşılıksız bırakmayı kabullenecek bir şahsiyet değildi.” “ O karşısındakine anında cevap verecek üstün bir zekaya sahipti. Aynı zamanda Ömer Muhtar ileri seviyede dini kültüre sahipti. Onun kesin tavırlı bir huyu vardı. O, dinine ait hiçbir şeyi ihmal etmeyecek ve dinini herhangi bir maddi menfaat karşılığında satmayacak üstün bir kişiliğe sahipti. Dünyevi hiçbir çıkar peşinde olmayan bir kişiydi. Üstelik hayli fakir bir adamdı. Din ve vatan sevgisinden başka hiçbir dünyevi şeye de malik değildi.” “Ona canlı ve hazır bir zeka bahşedilmişti. Dini konularda iyi bir eğitim görmüş, hareketli,mütevazı ama tavizsiz...”

Mücahidlerin teslim olması teklifini red eden Ömer Muhtar, 15 Eylül 1931 günü İtalyan sıkıyönetim mahkemesi tarafından göstermelik bir duruşmaya çıkarıldı ve Graziani’nin daha önceden emrettiği gibi idam kararı veren mahkemenin yüzüne şu tokadı savurdu: “Hüküm ve karar yalnız Allah’ındır. Sizin bu sahte ve uydurma hükmünüzün hiçbir geçerliliği yoktur. İnna lillah ve inna ileyhi raciun(Biz Allah’ın kullarıyız ve sonunda ona dönücüleriz)”.

Aynı gün, toplama kamplarından getirilen binlerce Libyalının gözleri önünde gayet sakin ve korkusuzca idam sehpasına çıktı. Fecr suresinin son ayetlerinden “Ey huzura ermiş nefis! Razı edici ve razı edilmiş olarak Rabbine dön” ayetleri dilinde virdi zebandı... Özgürlüğü için her şeyi göze aldığı yeşil dağlarına son bir kere daha baktı ve bir milleti yetim bırakarak ebed alemine doğru kanatlandı. Yer Suluk çarşısı idi.

Son olarak Muhammed Esed’in 1932’de Medine’de onun şehadetini haber aldığında ağzından dökülenleri nakledelim: “Ömer el Muhtar öldü ha...Şu Sireneyka aslanı, yetmiş şu kadar yaşına rağmen halkının özgürlüğü için yılmadan sonuna kadar savaşan Ömer el Muhtar öldü demek...On uzun yıl boyunca, on uzun ve çileli yıl boyunca en modern silahlarla donatılmış mekanize birliklerle, uçaklarla, topçu bataryalarıyla takviye edilmiş düşman ordularına, kendinden en az on kat daha kalabalık İtalyan kuvvetlerine karşı halkın umutsuz direnişine bayrak olan Ömer el Muhtar...Piyade tüfeklerinden ve birkaç attan başka bir şeyleri olmayan, yarı aç mücahidlerinin başında kocaman bir esir kampına dönüştürülen bir ülkede son kurşununu sıkıncaya kadar umutsuz bir gerilla savaşı sürdüren koca Ömer el Muhtar...”

Edep Üzerine Sözler

Edep Ya Hu

“Utancı giden kimsenin kalbi ölür” Hz Ömer (ra)
“Edeb döküntüleri, altın döküntülerinden daha hayırlıdır” Hz Osman (ra)
“Edep aklın suretidir” Hz Ali (ra)
“Ulu kişi, arif bir insan, Rabbine karşı edebini bıraktı mı mutlaka helak olur” Yahya b Muaz (ra)
“En güzel edep, güzel ahlâktır” Hz Ali (ra)
“İnsanlık âdâbını, ilimden evvel, öğrenmek lazımdır” İmam-ı Malik
“Ayıp ve kabahatten korkmayan ile düşüp kalkmak, kıyamet gününde insana utanç verir” İmam Şafi
“İnsana, faidesiz çok bilgiden ziyade, edeb ve yüksek terbiye lazımdır” Aİbni Mübarek
“Edeb, tecrübe ile yani bizzat yaşanarak kazanılır” İmam Maverdi
“Ey Rabbim ! beni her ne ceza ile cezalandırırsan cezalandır, yalnız hicab (utanma) zilleti ile cezalandırma” İmam Kuşeyri
“İnsanın ilim ve edebi, en büyük varlığıdır Eskimez, çürümez, kaybolmaz” Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumi
“İnsanla hayvan arasında ki fark, edeptir” Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumi
“Dünya gecesini aydınlatacak şemaların en güzeli ve parlağı: Edeptir” Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumi
“Utanma insanın ruhunda asıldırİnsanı insan olarak muhafaza eden de budur” Nasır-ı Husrev
“Her şeyin bir hizmet edicisi vardır Dinin hizmet edicisi de edeptir” Abdullah Nibbaci
“İlim meclisine girdim, kıldım talep / İlim ta gerilerde kaldı, illa edep illa edep” Ziya Paşa
“Edeb elbisesi insanın ayıbını göstermeyen ne güzel bir elbise imiş” Sünbülzâde

Edep Ya Hu

Yunus Emre

Edep bir taç imiş, nur-u Hüdadan
Giy ol tacı emin ol her beladan
      Yunus Emre

What is Money?

Two young people discuss money—when it started to be used, how it changed, and how it’s used today.

İyi Syaset

Dürüstlük en iyi siyasettir.
   Japon Atasözü

Özgürlük Olmadan Eşitlik Sağlanamaz

Karl R. Popper

Birkaç yıl boyunca, hatta Marksizm'i reddettikten sonra bile sosyalist olarak kalmaya devam ettim; eğer sosyalizmin bireysel özgürlüklerle kaynaşabilmesi mümkün olsaydı, bugün hala sosyalist olabilirdim.
Çünkü siyasal ve sosyal açıdan herkesin eşit olduğu bir toplumda gösterişsiz, basit ve özgür bir yaşam sürmükten daha iyi bir şey olamaz.
Fakat bunun sadece çok güzel bir hayal olduğunu anlamam çok uzun sürdü.
Yani, özgürlüğün eşitlikten daha önemli olduğunu, eşitliği gerçekleştirme girişimlerinin özgürlüğü tehlikeye düşürdüğünü ve özgürlüğün yitirilmesi halinde özgür olmayanlar arasında bile eşitliği sağlamanın mümkün olmayacağını çok geç fark ettim.

Senden başka her şeyi olan!

* Allah’ım, senden başka hiçbir şeyi olmayan ben, Senden başka her şeyi olanlara acırım.
* Bildiğini bilenin arkasından gidiniz. Bildiğini bilmeyeni uyandırınız. Bilmediğini bilene öğretiniz. Bilmediğini bilmeyenden kaçınız.
     Konfüçyüs

Demokrasi

Demokrasi despotizmin en ileri şeklidir.
Dost kara günde belli olur.(Misfortune shows those who are not really friends)
  Aristoteles

Ziya Paşa

Allah'a tevekkül edenin yaveri Haktır
Nâşad(mutsuz) gönül bir gün olur şâd(mutlu) olacaktır
  Ziya Paşa

Önce Nefsime Nasihat Et

Ebüssuud bin Ebu'l-Aşair

- Nefsime nasihat etmeyen kimse, başkasına nasihat edemez.

- Kendini aldatan kimsenin, senin de aldatmasından kork. Emin olma.

Kimlerden Korkmak Gerek!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

* Kaybedecek bir şeyi olmayanlardan korkmalısın. Çünkü onlar, kazanmak için herşeyi yaparlar.
* Bir insanın en büyük hatası; gereğinden fazla değer vermek değil, kendine hak ettiğinden daha az değer vermektir.
* Bir sona geldiğin için ağlama, onu yaşadığın için gülümse.
* Önemli olan, hayatta başına ne geldiği değil, neyi nasıl hatırladığındır.

       Gabriel Garcia Marquez

WAY OF LIFE

SITTING BULL’S WAY OF LIFE
A Biography
Over a century and a half ago, a great man was born into a life that was about as perfect as human life gets. Little did he know that his world would be destroyed, his people massacred, that those who survived would become prisoners of war, that his very identity, character and culture would be maligned.
Born in l83l, born free to roam over the prairies, to hunt, to survive by God-given wits with fellow creatures as companions, free to totally love life, free to be totally self-sufficient, born free of the tyrany of government. Indians were nomadic and hunting buffalo was crucial to their way of life. When the white man couldn’t kill off all the Indians after stealing their land, he proceeded to kill off all the buffalo, and almost succeeded.
Sitting Bull came of age early. By age l4, he had touched an enemy. If you could touch an enemy and not kill him, you were a warrior with honor, the men told of your deeds, the women admired you. It was a society where character and honor were everything. A good character was the only thing a person truly possessed. A person could live with a lot of things, losses, but not a tarnished character. When Sitting Bull grew older and had to fight white soldiers, he said, “The white soldiers do not know how to fight. They are not lively enough. They stand still and run straight; it is easy to shoot them. They do not try to save themselves,. Also, they seem to have no hearts. When an Indian gets killed, the other Indians feel sorry and cry, and sometimes stop fighting. But when a white soldier gets killed, nobody cries, nobody cares; they go right on shooting and let him lie there. Sometimes they even go off and leave their wounded behind them.”
As soon as the Civil War was over, the U. S. government decided to kill off all the Indians and steal their land, so that capitalism could prosper.  Americans called this Manifest Destiny, meaning that the Christian God had ordained the superior white race to settle, colonize, subjugate the Indians, and assert a capitalist way of life for the benefit of the white race.   Also, the U. S. had large war debts, so they felt they needed to get the gold from the Black Hills, even though the Black Hills was part of the Reservation. General Sheridan sent Colonel George A. Custer into the Black Hills to get the Hills away from the Indians. He announced to the press that gold could be found under every rock and in every stream, knowing this would bring an onslaught of gold-crazed people.


From the beginning, the Indian was treated as a sub-human savage. If he didn’t have the good sense to realize that these Europeon foreigners were his superiors, come to give him the gift of religion and government in exchange for his land, then he deserved to be shot. At one time, it was quite legal to kill Indians, no questions asked. As a matter of fact, a bounty was placed on Indians.

For hundreds of years, the Indians lived in peace and harmony with the animals, who they considered their equals. There was a time when animals weren’t scared to death of people, a time before the white man. Before a warrior killed an animal for food, he prayed to that animal and begged his forgiveness. Indians spoke with the animals and drew strength and knowledge from the animals. But, no more. That is gone.
Indians were organized into tribes, which means that the family was very important, and in Indian way, everyone had a place in their society . A council of elders chosen by the people made decisions based on what would be good for all. They chose the chief, who always listened to the people. It was his job to make sure everyone was taken care of. If someone lacked, he had to give them what they needed. There were no elections, no terms of office, no pay for bureaucrats because there weren’t any. There were no jails, no courts, no police, no judges, no lawyers. All unnecessary. Indians were totally free and independent. Even a child of 6 could understand the law. Disputes were settled by the people, the council, or the chief. If anyone was too disruptive, he or she was given walking papers and told not to come back. In other words, it was a real democracy, since anyone could have a say-so.

Sitting Bull was chosen to be chief at a time when the white man was trying to kill the Indian and take his land. When Indians objected to this behavior, they were declared the enemy and war was made on them. But it was really genocide, since that was the intent. Women and children were targeted.
The year l865, was a turning point for Sitting Bull, for that was the year of the Sand Creek massacre in which hundreds of Cheyennes, mainly women and children were killed. But some escaped and headed north to Sitting Bull, who welcomed them and made room for them in his camp. When he heard their story, he realized that the white man was sly, deceitful, greedy, bloodthirsty, that the white man wanted to kill all the Indians.
There was constant fighting brought about by the white man. Nothing seemed to satisfy him. The white man was sly. He, through the U. S. government, lured the weaker Indians to the Reservations, with promises of good and shelter. However, the minute the Indian fought back, any available Indian was killed in retaliation. Friendly Indians were easier to kill. The white man used germ warfare against the Indians by giving Indians blankets that were infected with smallpox. Not only did it kill an enormous number of Indians, it cloaked the government’s true intentions and caused Indians to suffer a hideous death.

The Hunkpapa chief Four Horns, decided a new chief should be selected in these most treacherous of times. He chose Sitting Bull because he was brave and intelligent. He led the charges on his fast horses, and never reined them back in a battle. A man who had been severely wounded in battle twice; once so badly that he was a cripple. A man who was a peacemaker in the camps and never quarreled. A generous man, who was always capturing horses from the enemy and giving them away, a man who constantly shared his kill with the poor and helpless when hunting, a man who could not bear to see one of the Hunkpapa unhappy. A pleasant man, always making jokes and telling stories, keeping the people in a good humor, a sociable man who had tried to please everybody all his life, who was not haughty or arrogant—in spite of his many honors. A family man, who stood well with matrons and old women whose domestic quarrels he had patched up, whose winter food supply he had filled. A man who had the gift of prophesy who could foretell the outcome of a battle, so that he was almost always victorious. A good singer, always in demand. A man who could speak and think, and never was swindled by the whites. A man whose unshaken purpose was to maintain Hunkpapa laws and customs, and defend the Hunkpapa hunting grounds against the white man. A man who was devoutly religious, whose prayers were strong, and got what he prayed for. Also, Sitting Bull had the support of the warriors and the elders.
With all tribes assembled, including some Arapaho and Cheyenne, except for Spotted Tail of the Brule and Red Cloud of the southern Oglala, Sitting Bull was chosen to be head chief to reunite the whole Teton Sioux nation against the encroachments of the white man. Crazy Horse of the Oglala was chosen second in command. Then the ceremonies began. People recounted Sitting Bull’s many accomplishments, including that he had abolished slavery in his band, had told the people to adopt the captives or set them free. The year was l867.
Sitting Bull never started any war or battle with the whites. He did make demands of the U.S. government that: (l) the roads be closed; (2) the forts be burned; (3) the steamboats be stopped from entering the reservation; and (4) all whites be expelled except for traders.
Sitting Bull composed a new song:
    “Young men, help me, do help me!
      I love my nation so;
      That is why I am fighting.”
From here on, it would be a cat and mouse game with the U.S. government trying to take back Indian lands guaranteed by treaty and Sitting Bull fighting all the way to save his land , his animals, his people, even other tribes. The treaties with Indians were never taken seriously by the U. S. government. It was simply a means used to contain the Indians, who were too strong for the U.S. military to exterminate at that time. Also, Indians were not considered to be moral, intellectual or spiritual. So, quite naturally, the white man felt justified to dispose of the red man who stood in the path of progress. After all, Manifest Destiny was understood by everyone in the nineteenth century, and accepted as a cardinal truth, a mandate from God.
Manifest Destiny was a U.S. policy that perpetuated imperialist expansion, a policy based on the notion that the white race was superior to all other races, that the white man was chosen by God to dominate the earth. In other words, it was all right to kill Indians and steal their land because God had chosen the white man to create a white nation in America.
From then on, a constant stream of delegations would try to get Sitting Bull to sign away his people’s land, to whom Sitting Bull said:
“I wish all to know that I do not propose to sell any part of my country, nor will I have the whites cutting our timber along the rivers, more especially the oak. I am particularly fond of the little groves of oak trees. I love to look at them, and feel a reverence for them, because they endure the wintry storms and summer’s heat, and—not unlike ourselves—seem to thrive and flourish by them. One thing more: those forts filled with white soldiers must be abandoned; there is no greater source of trouble and grievance to my people.”

Then Sitting Bull sent Gall and Bull Owl to meet with the commissioners, and on July 2, l968, they signed the Treaty of Laramie. This treaty established the Great Sioux Reservation, the one which is still referred to today. It was a complete victory for Sitting Bull, although Sitting Bull never signed the Treaty. The U.S. government and military never upheld the Treaty. The military was a frequent violator of the Treaty, as they were just following orders from the Commander-and-Chief. The government also issued hundreds of guns and ammunition to settlers and mercenaries, while Indians kept the peace and honored the Treaty.
Then Sheridan, under orders from the White House, ordered Custer to reconnoitre the Black Hills. He announced gold every where, which set off a stampede of whites for the Black Hills.
So now the Hills were full of miners demanding that the government buy the Hills and use the military to protect them, even though they were there in violation of the l868 Treaty, the Black Hills being part of the Great Sioux Nation and sacred to the Sioux. The military would not protect Indian rights and did not try to dislodge the miners. Also the railroad was trying to get a line through Indian land. Then too, immigrants were swarming all over, brought over by all those handbills distributed by the U.S. government, advertising free land to anyone who would come over and homestead. So the Black Hills were swarming with various white men, and the White House was sending a Commission to try buy out the Indians. The only Indians willing to deal with the U.S. government were the agency Indians, such as Spotted Tail and Red Cloud;, who wanted cash for the Hills. Sitting Bull said he had no land to sell.
“We have plenty of game. We want no white men here. The Black Hills belong to me. If the whites try to take them, I will fight.”
So, the Commission went back to Washington with its tail between its legs. Then the U.S. government, at the urging and money spent by rich industrial Capitalists, deployed its favorite motivus operation. Washington ordered that all Indians turn themselves into the Agencies or they would be considered hostile and war would be declared on them, all because they refused to sell their land. Of course, this directive was to be carried out in the winter of l875, a favorite time for the U.S. to force Indians into a forced march to the reservations.
When Sitting Bull did not come in, Washington declared war on him along with Craz;y Horse and his Oglalas. However, the generals were having a little trouble finding the Indians in the winter on the plains. So they waited until March. Then they attacked the camps of Crazy Horse, Oglala, and Two Moon, Cheyenne. The Indians drove the troops back and escaped, but the military burnt all the food and lodges. Then, the freezing Oglala and Cheyenne set out to find relief in that bitter winter weather. At last, cold and hungry, some sixty miles down the Powder, they found the camp of Sitting Bull.
Sitting Bull heard their story, took them in, fed them, gave them horses, robes, and guns, and told his people to double up and let the refugees have some of their tents. He made them welcome.


For 8 years Sitting Bull had put up with everything and had kept the peace, had honored a treaty he never signed. Now he was angry when he saw what the U.S. soldiers had done to the Oglalas and Cheyennes. He said, “We are an island of Indians in a lake of whites. We must stand together, or they will rub us out separately. These soldiers have come shooting; they want war. All right, we’ll give it to them!” Many a white man lost his horses and his scalp. Runners sped to every camp and agency—Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. “It’s war! Come to the Rosebud and we’ll fight.” So everyone joined Sitting Bull, even Agency Indians who remembered what happened at Sand Creek. Sure enough, the government took the guns and horses from the agency Indians.
Soon most all Indians headed for Sitting Bull’s big camp. Drums were beating, and every night there was dancing. Here they all come. Crazy Horse with his Oglala; Flying By, Hump, and Lame Deer of the Miniconjou; Spotted Eagle and Two Eagles of the Sans Arc; Four Horns with the Hunkpapa; Two Moon, Ice, and Little Horse of the Cheyenne; other tribes represented included Arapaho, Yankton, Blackfeet Sioux, Inkpaduta’s Santees; even some Brule and southern Oglala including Jack Red Cloud, son of the great chief Red Cloud, who, along with Spotted Tail advised against joining with Sitting Bull. The head men selected the fighting chiefs for each band. Sitting Bull was chosen to lead the campaign, chosen by voice acclamation, without one dissenting voice.
Sitting Bull told the warriors to get ready, start stealing horses from some of those 25,000 whites holed up in the Black Hills. Guns and ammunition were harder to get. What they lacked in weapons, they made up for by being the finest fighting force in the whole world, fighting for a cause that was right, moral, and just, and led by one of the most intelligent, witty, bravest, most generous leaders this world has ever known.
Then Sitting Bull started to prepare himself, so all would go well. He loosened the braids of his long hair, removed the feathers from his head, washed off the red paint, and filled his long pipe, and gathered sage. He called White Bull, Jumping Bull, and Black Moon to accompany him to a hilltop. Here, Sitting Bull prayed and renewed his vow before witnesses:


“Tuncosila, Wakan Tanka, save me and give me all my wild game animals. Bring them near me, so that my people may have plenty to eat this winter. Let good men on earth have more power, so that all nations may be strong and successful. Let them be of good heart, so that all Sioux people may get along well and be happy. If you do this for me, I will perform the sun-gazing dance two days, two nights, and give you a whole buffalo.”


Later, they all smoked the pipe, and returned to camp. Sitting Bull immediately went hunting and shot 3 buffalo, one which he offered up to Wanka Tanka. A few days later, the sun dance began with Black Moon conducting it, and Sitting Bull, having vowed the dance, was Chief of the Dancers.
The virgin cut the sacred tree. The chiefs carried the tree into the circle on poles, where it was decorated and dedicated with symbols and offerings. The alter was built and a buffalo scull placed on it, along with pipes. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and all the warriors had been through this many times. It was part of their life. Sitting Bull fulfilled his vow by giving flesh, l00 pieces. Then he went into the sundance. With no food or water, he danced and prayed. The next day, he appeared to faint. Black Moon and others took and laid Sitting Bull down. He spoke to Black Moon saying he had a vision, his offering had been accepted, his prayers were heard. Black Moon walked to the center and announced, “Sitting Bull wishes to announce that he just heard a voice from above saying, “I give you these because they have no ears.” He looked up and saw soldiers and some Indians on horseback coming down like grasshoppers, with their heads down and their hats falling off. They were falling right into our camp.” The people rejoiced. Later, Sitting Bull warned the people:
“These dead soldiers are the gifts of Wanka Tanka. Kill them, but do not take their guns or horses. Do not touch the spoils.  If you set your hearts upon the goods of the white man, it will prove to be the downfall of this nation.”
Crazy Horse and Gall, Two Moon and Ice, along with many others believed in Sitting Bull’s prophecy, having seen them come true in the past. Ten days later, the prophecy was fulfilled. For as long as people lived who witnessed this, the Sun Dance on the Rosebud was not forgotten. The sun dance pole stood for many years, for no Indian would go near that holy ground where Sitting Bull shed his blood for the people. Finally, some white men removed it, and built a road over the top of it, in a way typical of white men.


Sitting Bull constantly sent out scouts, who eventually found Crook with l000 soldiers and 260 scouts coming into the Rosebud. Crazy Horse led the attack and sent Crook on the run. Many soldiers died.
Still Sitting Bull waited and watched. Standing on a hilltop, Sitting Bull raised his hands to the sky, prayed and cried:
“Wakan Tanka, pity me. In the name of the nation, I offer You this pipe. Wherever the Sun, Moon, Earth, Four Winds, there You are always. Tuncosila, save the people, I beg You.  We wish to live. Guard us against all misfortunes and calamities.  Take pity.”
Then he left tobacco ties as offerings. The next day, the hill side was littered with Custer and his 7th Cavalry. Also, Reno didn’t fare too well, either.
Consummate leader that he was, wary as one of his fine wild animals, Sitting Bull, smelled a trap at the Little Big Horn. And he was right. The U.S. was coming with its full force to rub out the Indians, but failed due to the strong prayers of Sitting Bull, and the excellence of his warriors, the best in all the world. Had Sitting Bull the mind of the white man, he would have chased the soldiers to the ocean, killing their women and children as he went. However;, Sitting Bull was guided by a respect for life, rather than a love of money, which is why he felt sad when he saw not everyone had heeded his warning. He said, “Because you have taken the spoils, henceforth you will covet the white man’s goods, you will be at his mercy, you will starve at his hands. The soldiers will crush you.”
Right after the battle, the white man, seeing that the whole 7th Cavalry was wiped out in just one day, made up poor excuses and slandered Sitting Bull in the press. The U.S. government quickly realized they had to present Sitting Bull as a savage, godless demon to the public, which is where the media did their patriotic best to distort the whole event, and cover up the true intentions. It must be remembered that Sitting Bull and all the Indians only defended themselves from annihilation.


Sitting Bull moved his camp to Twin Buttes on the Grand River. Near him were some Oglala, Brule, and Minniconjou, camped at Slim Buttes, all within the Great Sioux Reservation. General Crook with about 2000 soldiers attacked the Slim Buttes camp before dawn, killing old men and women, children, women with their babies. Sitting Bull, who was hunting, heard of the attack and came running. He couldn’t get into the camp right away because there were too many soldiers, so he kept firing from the edges. Next day, Crook began moving out toward the Black Hills, after getting the survivors to surrender. Sitting Bull tried to break their line, but there were too many. As soon as the soldiers had moved out of the camp, Sitting Bull called off his warriors and went into the burnt out camp. There, in addition to the atrocities, he found a note from Crook attached to one of the captives he had released. He wrote: (l) White men do not make war upon women and children. (2) Tell Sitting Bull he would kill all Indians until the last one had been killed or made prisoner. (3) The Sioux should surrender immediately rather than expose their wives and children to these kinds of accidents.


Sitting Bull tried to keep the bands together to fight the soldiers, but the U.S. government had a way of luring people with promises only to turn on them in the end. The U.S. government tricked some Sioux and Cheyenne to go with the soldiers and fight against Sitting Bull.
From then on, the situation deteriorated. Miles was sent to harass, bully, and bribe the Indians with empty promises of how much better off they would be if they returned or turned themselves into the Agencies. In the meantime Washington sent Commissioners to get the Black Hills. This time, they didn’t offer payment; instead, it was either sign or you don’t get your rations. The pretense of getting three fourths of the full blood males to sign was dropped. Anyone could sign. In short, the treaty was worthless. Sitting Bull would not come into the Agency, nor would he sign away the Black Hills. But through devious fraud and theft, and sell-outs (hangs-around-the-fort), the Black Hills were gone.
Sitting Bull held out as long as he could. He let the people decide who wanted to go to the Agency and who wanted to go with him to Canada. Then he went to find Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse said he had to stay with the old and the women with children. They were starving since the U.S. government had ordered all the buffalo to be killed. He said that Spotted Tail had urged him to come to Fort Robinson just to look around to see that his people would be better off. But anyone wishing to go with Sitting Bull was free to go. Some Oglalas joined with Sitting Bull.
Sitting Bull had a heavy sadness, prophet that he was, he knew he would never see his friend again. Now he was alone. While out hunting antelope, a wolf spoke to Sitting Bull, who memorized his song:


    “I am a lonely wolf, wandering pretty nearly all over the world. He, he, he!
    What is the matter? I am having a hard time, Friend.
    This that I tell you, you will have to do also.
    Whatever I want, I always get it.
    Your name will be big, as mine is big. Hau! Hau!”


From here on, the U.S.government ordered the army to round up all Indians who were roaming around the Reservation, hunting, send them to the Agencies, confiscate their guns and horses, keeping them as prisoners of war, pay some Indians to assassinate their own chiefs; the Agencies were to keep the peace by withholding rations. The army swarmed all over the Reservation. Sitting Bull usually avoided them, sometimes took a few shots at them. During one of these skirmishes, White Bull was shot through the arm breaking the bone. Miles captured some of Sitting Bull’s warriors and held them captive on a boat. He told Sitting Bull to come in and surrender or he would kill the warriors. Sitting Bull told White Bull to go in, and take anyone with him who wanted to go to the Agency, which White Bull did. Sitting Bull was by no means willing to go in and give up his hard-earned guns and horses, only to starve at an Agency.
Sitting Bull, and in fact, all the Indians, saw the white man as an inferior human being, who did not live by any virtues or values, who was motivated by greed, who would lie, cheat, steal and murder to acquire material things, who wanted to own everything, privatized, if you will. Whereas, Indians shared the land, believing that everyone had a right to exist, even the animals and plants. Indians fought to defend their families and hunting grounds, whereas whites sent an army to fight for land and resources to present to rich men. An Indian chief was chosen to lead because he had demonstrated to have strong character assets, whereas a president or senator was chosen by a few rich people to be served by the poor. In other words,
Indians saw Sitting Bull as a man who could lead his warriors, whereas, they saw the president as a coward who hid inside like a woman, and sent someone else to fight his battles.


Late spring, l877, Sitting Bull arrived in Canada. He could finally rest for awhile from the U.S.government’s attempts to kill him and his people. But generals and commissioners were constantly coming over to try get Sitting Bull to come back. It was a total embarrassment to the U.S. that Sitting Bull had defeated their little army and wiped out that cur known as Custer.
It was not very pleasant for the U.S. commissioners, to sit and listen to the frank reproaches to these ‘savages’ whom they had condemned and despised and had come so far to ‘pardon’. Also, it was unpleasant because all was spoken in the presence of the officers of the British government, with which Americans were none too friendly in feeling just after the Civil War. Particularly, as both the Americans and the Canadians knew very well that Sitting Bull’s stand was thoroughly justified by the corruption of the Indian Bureau, the unnecessary Indian wars, the abuses of the Indian trade, the theft of Indian land, and the indiscriminate killing of Indians, mainly women and children. There sat Terry, who had been in command of the troops when Custer fell, and when thousands of American soldiers could not keep the peace on the frontier. And in the same room sat the Canadians who—with a mere handful of policemen—controlled the Indians of a territory far larger than the country of the Sioux, and all without any bloodshed whatever. And there sat Sitting Bull, the man whose warriors had inflicted the most complete disaster to American arms in the history of the United States, pointing out the differences in the two groups of officials in the most dramatic way, pointing out the justice of the Canadians compared to the corruption and inadequacy of the U.S. government. Sitting Bull said:


“I am innocent. My people at the Agencies are being abused. Many Sioux, mainly women and little children, have been killed by soldiers, for no reason other than these soldiers enjoy killing and torture. All my wild animals have run away at the smell of too much blood. I only wished for peace and a chance to trade, The Sioux had never sold their country, nor taken annuities in payment; the Americans stole my country, and the gold in the Black Hills. We asked the Americans to give us traders, instead they give us death. All of them robbed, cheated, and laughed at us. They never tell the truth. They said they did not wish to fight, yet why did they come into my country shooting at me? Evervthing bad began with them. I have never heard a good word of them. If they liked me, why did they drive me away?”


So the Commission west back to the U.S. to report that Sitting Bull would not be returning soon, if at all.


Sitting Bull heard with great sadness, that Crazy Horse had been stabbed in the back when he came into Fort Robinson. Later, Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce, almost made it to Sitting Bull before Miles captured him. All winter long, across the Rocky Mountains, Chief Joseph led his people, hoping to reach Sitting Bull before the army imprisoned them on a reservation. He was only 40 miles from the Canadian line, when Miles opened fire on him and his people. Indian sources say that Joseph had crossed into Canada when Miles overtook them, and slaughtered them.  However; about l00 Nez Perce escaped and joined Sitting Bull. Chief Joseph was forces to surrender.  Instead of keeping their promise, the U.S. imprisoned this great chief instead of giving him a reservation.
As time passed, plenty gave way to famine. Followers drifted away. Eventually, Sitting Bull had to rely on others to feed him. The Queen would not grant him a reserve. The hand writing was on the wall. By this time, Sitting bull’s camp consisted chiefly of old people, the young had taken off seeking new adventures. But the old weren’t going to go anywhere without their old leader, who had piloted them through war, famine, and exile. Sitting Bull loved these people. All his life long, he had made so many sacrifices for them. Out on the lonely hills he had fasted and prayed for them; in the tortures of the Sun Dance, he had shed his blood for their success and safety; in battle and in the hunt he had risked his skin and covered himself with sweat and dust to keep them supplied with horses and hunting grounds. Yet, there was no doubt in Sitting Bull’s mind that he would be murdered by these Americans. He had no choice. And why not? He remembered Ash Hollow, Sand Creek, the dead women and children at Slim Buttes, Killdeer Mountain, General Sully’s massacre at Fort Rice. He knew all the broken treaties, cheating traders, and thieving Indian agents, the cruel wrongs of the Santees before the Minnesota Massacre, the dead cow at Laramie, and the rank injustice which had driven Chief Joseph’s followers to fly to him for refuge. He had seen Gall’s gaping bayonet wounds, and heard how Crazy Horse was lured to surrender and afterward stabbed from behind. He recalled how Dull Knife’s people had been locked up at Fort Robinson and starved for eight days, and then shot down as they staggered away over the moonlit snow. And within 6 months a portion of his own camp had been fired into at Camp Poplar, while they were negotiating for surrender.
Most of these so-called accidents had been brought about by soldiers, agents, licensed traders—all of them official representatives of the U.S. government. Sitting Bull knew that Jumping Bull was in irons, and on returning to Wood Mountain , had been told that his elder daughter, Has Many Horses, who had recently returned to the States with her new husband, had been seized and shackled there. He knew that LeGare, the French trader, would be paid for bringing him in. Yet, his people were starving. He asked the Canadians for rations. They refused.
The next day, July l0, l88l, LaGare started out with 40 lodges, l87 people, heading for the United States. On the way, they passed miles of carcasses of buffalo, half skinned, bones gleaming. Sitting Bull may have noted there was no room for either one of them.
On they went to Ft. Buford. It was here that Sitting Bull surrendered. He had to let go all his fast horses. When the men lined up to turn over their weapons, Sitting Bull gave his rifle to his 8-year-old son,
Crow Foot, to hand to the soldier, saying, “My boy, if you live, you will never be a man in this world, because you can never have a gun or pony.” ( How prophetic! Since Crow Foot would be killed along with Sitting Bull.) “The land I have under my feet is mine again. I never sold it. I never gave it to anybody.”
Sitting Bull insisted that the Canadians be present as witnesses. Accordingly, there was an agreement. Sitting Bull gave up his arms and horses and in return received a “pardon” for his past. He was promised a soft bed and rations. He was supposed to go to the Little Missouri; instead his people were sent to the Standing Rock Agency at Ft. Yates.
Sitting Bull, himself, was sent to Ft. Randall, where he was held as a prisoner-of –war. Right away the U.S. broke its agreement, in its usual fashion. However, Sitting Bull received good treatment from the soldiers. In time, officers grew to like him. They allowed him to administer to his little camp. Sioux chiefs came from all over to ask his advice. He was deluged with fan mail from all four corners of the world. When one old soldier came forward and testified that Sitting Bull did not kill Custer, he was released to Ft. Yates, where he thought he would be chief.
Part of the plan to wreck and break the power of the Indian nations was to lure or force chiefs unto the reservations with the promise of good treatment and rations for the people. Once cornered on the reservation, the Agencies were told to strip the chief of any authority he once had. James McLaughlin, Agent at Ft. Yates, was a very narrow and jealous hearted man. He had been sent to destroy the Sioux civilization, and to break the Chief, a task he could never accomplish. Because he couldn’t stand Sitting Bull, McLaughlin sent him off the reservation, which included going with Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. It only increased Sitting Bull’s popularity with all people, especially white people. He had visited with the President, Heads of State, and other important people. They all called him chief, even if Agent McLaughlin refused.

The U.S. government was not through carving up the Great Sioux nation. Since it was inevitable, Sitting Bull bargained for the best price, $l.25 an acre. However, General Crook brought another Commission to Standing Rock to get a new price, but he found himself up against Sitting Bull, so he told McLaughlin to swing the session. [Part of an Agent’s duties as a Government employee was to select Puppet chiefs, ones who could be bribed to do as they were told.] McLaughlin met with the token chiefs at night. He told them what to say and do. Sitting Bull was not told of the meeting with the Commissioners. Everything went as planned. The token chiefs signed away most of the land that made up the Great Sioux Reservation, sold for a few cents, now only a memory, the death of a nation. It was the beginning of the end.
McLaughlin and some Indians, including Sitting Bull’s brother-in-law Gray Eagle, started picking at Sitting Bull to give up his old Indian ways. But Sitting Bull refused to give up his ways and continued to officiate ceremonies and minister to his people who still followed him. He was offered a fine house within the Agency, but he refused that too, preferring to live as far from the Agency as he could. Sitting Bull prophesied a bad year ahead, that the sun would burn up everything, and people would go hungry. All this came to pass. Catherine Weldon, a white woman from Brooklin, New York, and a representative of the National Indian Defense Association, came to help Sitting Bull fight the cession. McLaughlin hated her guts and tried in every way to discredit her. Catherine financed Sitting Bull’s campaign, give him money, supplied him with maps and land lists, taught him English, while she learned Lakota. [Catherine was an artist.] Finally McLaughlin became so annoyed with her that he barred her from the Reservation. But that didn’t stop her.
As for the land cession, people were paid nothing, and rations were reduced. [This is what is called a foreign policy. Once a nation’s populace is slaughtered, and a puppet (democratic!) government is installed, food is withheld to keep the rabble citizens in line, food being used as a weapon.] In addition, there was grippe, whooping cough, and measles, along with drought. In those days farm relief depended upon an Indian war. However, all the Indians were contained on the reservations.
So, some clever person in Pierre made up the story that soon the Indians would attack, in hopes the story would generate some Federal dollars to give some relief to white farmers suffering from drought, poverty, and an economy out of whack. All it needed was an incident to ignite it. And that came in the form of the ghost dance. It was a crazed Christian version of the Second Coming of the Messiah, an Indian come to chase out the whites and restore the dead Indians and buffalo, if only the Indians would dance.
Sitting Bull did not believe in it, but he allowed his people to dance, if it made them happy. The Sun Dance had been outlawed. Indians had few rituals left that they could practice. Besides, in the ghost dance, one might go into a trance, and see a dead relative. But Sitting Bull was a pagan, and clung to his Sioux rituals. Even Catherine Weldon tried to put a stop to the dancing as she pointed out it would be used as a weapon against the Indians. She had done her best, but no one would listen. Sitting Bull drove her to Cannonball, where she departed for good.
Sitting Bull had a strange foreboding. He sang the eagle’s song:
    “My Father has given me this nation,
    In protecting them I have a hard time.”
Enemies were all around Sitting Bull as he passed through Ft. Yates, for McLaughlin was scheming with some jealous-hearted Indian police to kill Sitting Bull.
Then, while Sitting Bull was looking for his circus horse, who was hiding from him, he heard the meadowlark say, “The Sioux will kill you!” The U.S. Government wanted Sitting Bull dead, but they didn’t want to be blamed for it. Actually, Sitting Bull was the political football between the Indian Bureau and the War Department, with the added twist of a nervous little Agent, McLaughlin, who couldn’t stand the fact that a pagan savage was highly regarded by a lot of white people. The Ghost Dance came in very handy to carry out the government plan. The new Agent on the Pine Ridge became nervous and yelped for troops, who arrived October 19, l890. Frighten Oglala headed to the badlands while frightened settlers headed east.
By about that time, the Ghost Dance and the Sioux were front page news, which attracted Buffalo Bill, who used this as an opportunity to gain huge publicity for his Wild West Show. He persuaded General Miles to give him an order to arrest Sitting Bull. When he arrived at Ft. Yates, he was met with McLaughlin and his militia who took Bill to the Officers’ Club in an attempt to get him drunk. Cody was a fly in the ointment, and they didn’t want any interference with the plan to kill Sitting Bull. The government and certainly the army, never forgave Sitting Bull for wiping out Custer. Also, Sitting Bull made them look like cold-blooded killers.
In spite of their best efforts, Cody kept his feet and head, and was on the road the next morning at about 11:00 o’clock, with eight newspaper men and a wagon load of candy, bound for the Grand River and Sitting Bull. However, McLaughlin had Cody’s order rescinded and removed him from the Reservation. In the mean time, Sitting Bull was trying to get a pass to go to Pine Ridge, which, of course, McLaughlin would never allow. Sitting Bull wrote a letter, which in part says:


“All the Indians pray to God for life, and try to find a good
road, and do nothing wrong in their life. This is what we
want, to pray to God. But you did not believe us.
You should say nothing against our religion, for we said
nothing against yours. You pray to God, so do all of us
Indians.
You think I am a fool, and you gather up some of the wise
men among my people on your side, and you let the white
people back East know what you think. I know that, but I
do not object; I over look that, because I am foolish enough
to pray to God.
Therefore, you don’t like me, because you think I am a
fool, and you imagine that, if I were not here, all the Indians
would become civilized, and that, because I am here, all the
Indians are fools.
When you were here in my camp, you gave me good words
about my prayers, but today you take it all back again. And there
is something else I want you to know. I am obliged to go to Pine
Ridge Agency and investigate this Ghost Dance religion.
The policeman told me you intend to take all our ponies, and
guns, too. So I wish you would let me know about that.
Please answer soon.
Sitting Bull


Another message reached McLaughlin that afternoon: a military order for the arrest of Sitting Bull.
The military could have arrested Sitting Bull, but McLaughlin didn’t want that. He wanted the Indian police to carry out the order. Lieutenant Bull Head and Sergeant Shave Head were only too eager to arrest Sitting Bull. On December l5, l890, Bull Head, Shave Head, Red Tomahawk, and others came in the night to Sitting Bull’s cabin. They manhandled him while he was telling them to allow him to get dressed. The military police tried to force him outdoors half dressed. There was a scuffle. Soon people started to arrive. Shave Head and Red Tomahawk grabbed Sitting Bull and were hanging on to him. Then through the crowd came Catch-the-Bear, Strikes-the-Kettle, brave Thunder, Spotted Horn Bull, and Blackbird, all itching for a fight for anyone foolish enough to lay hands on the great Chief. Catch-the-Bear slammed a
Cartridge into his Winchester and was growing for Bullhead. Sitting Bull , who had been reluctantly going along, yelled to take action. Catch-the-Bear fired, hitting Bullhead in the leg. Bull Head and Red Tomahawk both fired at Sitting Bull, killing him instantly. There was a bloody fight. Bull Head was mortally wounded. The Indian police took him inside Sitting Bull’s cabin. While moving the bed, they found Crow Foot, Sitting Bull’s son, hiding under the bed. The boy begged for his life, but Red Tomahawk slapped him in the face with his rifle butt and pushed him out the door where he shot Crow Foot. Shortly, thereafter, the military arrived and began firing on the Indian Police and anyone else who looked like they might be causing a problem.
McLaughlin and the U.S. Government accomplished their goal: Sitting Bull was dead, the Indians were blamed for killing him, the military looked like the good guys, the Ghost Dancers were frightened and on the run, and most of all, the settlers received guns and ammunition to defend themselves against the hordes of savages who were gearing up to attack them.
Later, a relative of the Indian Police began to mutilate Sitting Bull’s body. Friends and relatives of Sitting Bull fled when they saw the troops coming. Sitting Bull’s warriors had been killed, 7 in all. The Indian Police threw Sitting Bull’s body into a wagon like a dog, and loaded the dead Indian police on top. The caravan was brought to the new station on Oak Creek, present day town of McLaughlin.
The Indian Police were buried with much pomp and circumstance in the Roman Catholic cemetery with a granite shaft to commemorate their burial. Sitting Bull was dumped into a pine box, the military poured 5 gallons of chloride of lime on his body, which they buried in the corner of the military cemetery, buried like a felon. The New York Herald had this to say:


“It is stated today that there was a quiet understanding between the officers of the Indian and military departments that it would be impossible to bring Sitting Bull to Standing Rock alive, and that if brought in, nobody would knew precisely what to do with him.  He would, though under arrest, still be a source of great annoyance, and his followers would continue their dances and threats against neighboring settlers. There was, therefore, cruel as it may seem, a complete understanding from the Commanding Officer to the Indian Police that the slightest attempt to rescue the old medicine man should be a signal to sent Sitting Bull to the happy hunting ground.”

The friends and relatives of Sitting Bull had their houses ransacked, their horses and cattle stolen. They fled in fear of their lives, and with good reason, and headed toward the Pine Ridge Agency. On the way, they met up with the Oglala Pine Ridge ghost dancers. It was at this time that the massacre at Wounded Knee took place, December, l890.

So this was the death and burial of one of the greatest men that ever lived. However, just as Hitler didn’t kill all the Jews in Europe, so the U.S. Government didn’t kill all the Indians in America, but they gave it their best shot. This is America's shameful secret, which it has never been honest about. The U.S. assassinated the great Indian leaders, the U.S. tried to assassinate the Lakota culture as well, without ever fully understanding it.
Like any great person, Sitting Bull’s words speak to all people, all races. The petty murderers are dead now. They are not remembered because there is nothing memorable or significant about their lives. They had nothing important to say. Yet Sitting Bull’s words are as profound today, as when he spoke them over 100 years ago. I leave you with a quote from Sitting Bull:


“Behold, the spring has come.
The earth has received the embraces of the sun.
Soon we shall see the results of that love.
All of nature is awake and has a place in the sun.
Therefore, we yield to our neighbors,
Even our animal neighbors,
The same right to inhabit this land.
But now another race of people have come.
They build many things and leave behind much refuse.
They make many laws which the rich may break,
But the poor may not.
They are like a spring freshet
That overflows its banks.
We cannot contain them
But we do not sell our land, our Mother.”


The information for the writing of this paper was taken from Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux, by Stanley Vestal, first printed in l932 by Houghton Mifflin Company. For a more detailed account, you may refer to this book.