Article by Syrian activist Leo AlHalabi on Tim Anderson... before we lose Leo's page...

Leo Alhalabi
Yesterday at 9:02pm ·

Tim Anderson is one of those least likely to be anyone’s best friend given his colorful history and current demeanor. All one has to do is ask some of his associates to realize that with having friends like him, one doesn’t need enemies. But this is the last thing that Tim wants his international fan base to know.

Tim Anderson jumped onto the Syrian bandwagon for many reasons, one of which was that he’d been desperately looking for a come-back into fame, or rather infamy.

As a young adult, would-be professor Tim was a leading figure in Ananda Marga, a highly “devoted” Hindu-ish sect, but one that’s also highly controversial. Whether the many allegations about Ananda Marga are baseless or not, who knows, but this post focuses on what I know of Tim and what is gleaned about him from sources online. The intention here isn’t to open a closet of skeletons, but as Ananda Marga was accused of a number of serious acts of religious terrorism around the world and that Tim is connected with the cause of defending Syria, we need to understand whether his involvement is an asset or a liability, a credit or an embarrassment. Or is he merely another nutty professor.

It’s alleged that Ananda Marga’s target was the Indian Government, as at that time their leader was imprisoned by Indian authorities. Australia was one of many countries that suffered from terrorism in the late 1970’s, long before the IS ever existed.

The would-be professor wasn’t accused of one act, but actually two, and let’s get real; why would the Australian Government try to frame him as he pleaded? Why would the KGB frame him as he also pleaded? After all, before the incidents, he was a Mr. No Body.

He was a young man in his twenties and merely played the role of a spokesperson for the Ananda Margas, and the Australian Government had absolutely no reason to target him and use him as a sacrificial lamb.
He was put on trial, found guilty and spent six years in jail, before he was found guilty again of another crime which saw him locked up again. That was the infamous Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing of 1978 in which three people were killed and 11 injured, some very seriously. All up, he served a total of just over seven years for crimes he claims he never committed.

The evidence against him was later found to be not 100% conclusive, and hence he finally was acquitted and released from jail on the basis of insufficient evidence and the fact that he’d already served time, not once, but twice, on two separate incidences. His co-Margi stayed behind bars, unlike him, with incriminating evidence and confessions. Some ask why would his fellow Margi, a member from the lower echelons of the group’s hierarchy be guilty without Tim’s knowledge and involvement, given that this member confessed to the crime, stating he was ordered by Tim. That was a matter the Australian Government decided to rule about in Tim’s favor, but we should remember that although this ruling was made in his favor, his direct involvement in the acts of terror were not categorically proven, but neither was his innocence. It’s plausible to speculate that the Australian authorities wanted to close this embarrassing chapter (more on this below) and after seven years in jail all up, decided to let Tim go.

During his “tenure” in jail, the would-be professor was making in-roads towards another tenure. He started his tertiary education whilst in jail, and after receiving his PhD later on, he immediately landed on a senior position at the University of Technology Sydney, and shortly afterwards scored permanent tenure at Sydney University; one of the most prestigious universities in Australia.

Why would a prestigious university appoint a man of such background and give him a permanent position unless he was a good catch and a prolific publisher? But he is neither. His thus far tenure of two decades at the university has produced little in terms of number of academic publications, citations and advisory to post-graduate students. Such appointments are much less than the common practice in academia, they are never done.

The attached article clearly states that there was a huge upheaval surrounding the terror acts and rivalry between police and intelligence agencies and many attempts to silence some people. Was Anderson’s tenure at the university a part of a deal to keep him quiet? What’s even more odd, is that the man, according to his own admission, is “Australia’s only academic who is boycotted by the media”, so what exactly is he doing at that university when funds are hard to come by and competition is fierce?

During the transformation from a convicted criminal, acquitted free man, to a professor, Tim turned from living a devoted esoteric life into atheism and Marxism; which is odd given that he accused the KGB of framing him earlier. True believers in God don’t suddenly become atheists, and if they do, it only means that they never believed in God in the first place. But the new-found professor did have a god, and he will always serve this god with the utmost of devotion, and that god is none but his own ego.

His former Margi friends speak volumes about his eccentricities and egocentricity, as even though the group was restricted and under watch, former members continued to have a bond of friendship with each other, but not with big man Tim and it seems most loath him or feel so devastated that they wish to forget him.

Let us speed forward to 2011 when the Syria war began. In that war, the professor found a ripe opportunity to serve his ego god. Hence, he jumped on the opportunity long before most other Western supporters. He quickly built for himself a group of followers and established a movement he named “Hands off Syria”. He rounded up a good number of supporters who were much younger than him and much less experienced in politics and relevant matters. They looked up to him, regarding him as a demi god, wanting to eat from his hands. The demi god felt satisfaction, and he thought it was good.

To be catapulted to fame within the Syrian support movement, the professor needed a mega boost, so he piggy-backed on the Australian Wikileaks Party and headed a delegation to visit Syria and met with President Assad in 2013. By then, the Syrian Embassy in Australia was closed and the Syrian Government didn’t have the means to check him out.

Furthermore, Syria was in deep trouble back then, and Assad gave him audience because he needed as many windows to the West as possible, and what a boost that audience gave the professor. He became an instant hero and his ego elevated from that of a demi god to a full god.

Now his followers back home needed to plead for his audience, and it’s a wonder how his tall thin body was able to balance the big pumpkin of a head that grew on top.

However, when his controversial past attracted media commentary after his visit to President Assad, that media attention would likely have informed the refusal of his request to meet for a second time with Assad as he was refused.
His Facebook group, “Hands off Syria”, was like no other group, because originally he was the only admin and had a permanent “pinned” intro (courtesy god Tim) in which he dictated his terms and conditions. But when suggestions were made to him, he often disregarded them, as he’s the ultimate ruler of that group and it is after all, one of the many manifestations of his ego.

The professor then decided to write a book. The flimsy thin book that lacked substance was festooned with plates and graphics, and pages upon pages of references. The 250 page B5 book has almost 50 pages of references at its end, many pages of references and the end of each chapter, and many, many plates leaving at best 80 B5 pages of material of poor quality, not befitting that of an academic. Now the book is translated into seven languages. How was this paid for and who do the proceeds of sales go to?

But what the great professor didn’t realize was that its back cover as well as the last page in the final draft featured the “wrong” map of Syria, a map that acknowledges the Syrian Iskandaroun province as part of Turkey. Whilst it is internationally recognized as part of Turkey, any Syrian, genuine supporter of Syria or even an alleged supporter of Syria will find great offence in this map. The professor was able to correct his mistake before the book was launched.

In fairness to the “all-knowing” professor, it must be stated that he didn’t use the wrong map deliberately; he simply didn’t know. His lack of knowledge in regard to the map is however a true reflection of his lack of knowledge about Syria, period.

The pretense the unbecoming professor displays about his alleged love for Syria has the thumbprints of a passion that is highly pathological. Why would a white Australian who’s never been to Syria till 2013, who doesn’t know what the proper map of Syria should look like, have this kind of strong, morbid fetish that goes as far as challenging Syrians, patriotic Syrians, about their love and devotion to their own country?
The word “fetish” possibly holds the key, the ageing Prof who is in his mid sixties seems to have a fetish for brunettes. His similar aged partner is one, but within the Syrian community, the professor seemingly displays a penchant smutty streak that places himself surrounded by young Syrian female beauties who look up to him, considering themselves blessed.

This professor even once made an audacious Facebook collage about Syrian girls, displaying faces of young Syrian girls in their twenties, young enough to be his grand-daughters, with a try-hard fatherly caption, alluding these to be the angelic faces of Syria. It doesn’t take a deep probe to read into this statement and guess what was on his mind.

After a series of crimes rightly or wrongly associated with Ananda Marga in Australia and elsewhere, the most infamous of which was the 1978 Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing, Tim Anderson’s involvement or otherwise will remain in the minds of some as questionable in the absence of him being proven innocent. After all, the inconclusive evidence against him that eventually led to his acquittal, doesn’t conclusively prove his innocence either, especially that his alleged accomplice (Pederick) as mentioned above, who confessed to the crime stated he was ordered to do the bombing Tim himself.
In between 2011 and now, that controversial professor has shed many skins and turned his back on his “friends” within the Syria support movement, just like he turned his back in the past on his Margi friends and left them alone to face the brunt of the law.

A cynic’s view of Tim would not classify him as a nutty professor but rather as a smutty professor.
The smutty, flippy-floppy, self-conceited, holier-than-thou, former terror suspect who was never proven resoundingly innocent, dares take the upper moral ground in the pro-Syria movement and decrees from his self-proclaimed ivory tower that no one within the movement should call another a traitor. But he doesn’t apply his own “golden rule” to himself. He takes liberty to talk about betrayals of others and classifying some even as enemies; including very active patriotic Syrians. The alleged great pro-Syria activist who had to be told what the map of Syria looks like, has taken upon himself the license to decide who are the true patriotic Syrians and who aren’t. He also has the temerity to welcome dubious non-Syrians to Syria saying, “welcome to your second country”. It’s a mystery as to why he considers himself entitled or in such a position to do so.

Behind the scenes, the professor supports smear campaigns against genuine Syrian activists, knowing deep down inside that there is no proof to support those campaigns against them. Now, why would a man, an alleged freedom fighter, someone who was “framed” with a crime that he says he didn’t commit and spent over 7 years of his youth behind bars for it, why would he engage deliberately in defamatory campaigns against people he claims to support. It’s a bit like holocaust survivors who in turn did the same to the hapless population in Palestine. Reflecting on that, the congruency in the manner of thinking and actions display a worrying indictment on his character.

In one of his many lame attempts to acquire credibility, he joined hands with a dubious character according to the Australian media, an academic he’d put on his team and who the media reports as engaging in highly offensive racial remarks and alleged earlier years participation in a neo-Nazi website called StormFront. An experienced activist should have an eye and nose for such types, and even though the professor seemed to not know those details beforehand, he certainly displayed once again, his lack of wisdom and inability to make sound judgements.

Yes, indeed Tim has a long history of changing friends and causes like he changes socks. He’s no one’s friend and he doesn’t seem to have a permanent cause to serve. His alleged love for Syria looks like a ploy, and he only serves his ego, all the while savoring the accolade of young Syrian beautiful brunettes.

Tim Anderson has been playing with fire, stabbing his comrades in the back, throwing rocks at people when his own house is made of glass. He has a lot to answer to.

http://benhills.com/articles/scams-scoundrels/the-hilton-fiasco/