tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22129224460786654602024-03-05T04:01:46.665-05:00Buried SecretsRodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-36512150214118769212013-05-25T01:10:00.001-04:002013-05-25T01:10:32.628-04:00Canadians hear settler’s moving story: Peace and Justice for Palestinians<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Large-Scale illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have made a two-state solution impossible and some Israelis are advocating further ethnic cleansing by banishing Palestinians to five isolated cities in the West Bank and annexing their land, an Israeli-Canadian journalist-filmmaker says. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />Lia Tarachansky stated in Ottawa that Israel plans to annex almost all of Palestinian land but is contemplating what to do with the Palestinians whose land it has stolen. If it grants them citizenship, they might eventually become the majority turning Israel into a secular rather than a Jewish state. If it doesn’t grant them citizenship rights, it will become even more of an apartheid state than it already is. Some Israelis are suggesting that Israel banish the Palestinians to cities in the occupied territories and grant the cities “independence” to fend for themselves, Bantustan-style.<br /><br />Tarachansky spoke at a function organized by the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, which educates Canadians about the Middle East. She was born in the USSR but her parents, facing intense anti-Semitism, migrated to Israel. She grew up in Arial, the largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Though the illegal settlement adjoins Arab villages, there is no interaction between the settlers and the Palestinians. Israeli law forbids Israelis from going to Palestinian villages and it was only after her parents had moved to Canada that Tarachansky met a Palestinian and heard the Palestinian story. In Israel she was told that the Palestinians hate Jews and want to kill them.<br /><br />After her studies in Canada, Tarachansky returned to Israel and now lives in Jaffa. She has tried to learn more about the Palestinians and is making a documentary, “Seven Deadly Myths”, which traces the stories of four veterans of the 1948 war that erased Palestinian villages and expelled Palestinians from their homes. The film connects the four stories to the ongoing Palestinian dispossession through the occupation and settlements. She hopes that her film, to be released this fall if she obtains funding for editing and refinement, will enlighten Israelis, and Jews around the world, about what really happened. She wants to do so because she was taught in Israel that Arab armies, three years after the Holocaust, attacked Israel to complete Hitler’s task and kill Jews. This brainwashing enables Israelis to oppress Palestinians without moral qualms.<br /><br />More than two-thirds of Palestinians were ousted from their homes and over 530 Palestinian villages were destroyed. More than 40 percent of Palestinians have been jailed, some for years, often without charges. Arrested Palestinians are often tortured, she stated. While United Nations resolutions emphasize that Palestinians have the right to return home, Israel has enacted laws that ruled out their return to their homes or villages, even for a visit. <br /><br />Laws were passed that allowed any Jew to come to Israel and become a citizen. Another law gave 93 percent of the land, mostly Arab land, to the state. In Mandatory Palestine, Arabs owned 12.8 million dunams of the 26.4 million dunams (26,400 km2). Jews owned 1.5 million dunams, 1.5 million dunams was public land and the Negev desert had 10.6 million dunams. Another law allowed confiscation of the property of Arabs who had been killed or expelled. The law defined even Palestinians who had not left their homes as “present absentees.” They could vote but could not use or sell their property. Another law decreed that anybody who sought to return to his home could be shot, imprisoned or deported.<br /><br />More than 60 laws were passed, Tarachansky declared, that conferred or restricted citizens’ rights depending on whether they were Jewish. <br /><br />Although most Israelis do not know or care about their government trampling on Palestinians’ rights, Tarachansky said she was hopeful about peace and justice. This is partly because Israelis like her are now learning about the dark side of their history. Israeli scholars studied Zionist records after they were declassified in 1978 and wrote books. They discovered, for example, that after the proclamation of independence, Israeli militias attacked and ousted Palestinians. Arab armies did not intervene until about eight months later and were repelled. <br /><br />She asserted that the Israeli ambassador to the United States has told Premier Benjamin Netanyahu that American Jews are writing to him, after seeing the movies “The Gatekeepers” and “Five Broken Cameras”, asking why they should support a state that is committing such brutalities. “The Gatekeepers”, made by an Israeli filmmaker, showed Israeli atrocities against Palestinians that were indirectly criticized by former leaders of the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet.<br /><br />“Five Broken Cameras” records the sufferings inflicted on Bil’in, a West Bank village, by illegal Israeli settlers and the army. The film was started by farmer Emad Burnat in 2005 and later directed by Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi. <br /><br />Tarachansky declared that Israeli policies are alienating American Jews, church groups and the youth. The boycott Israel movement that started in 2005 is growing and is having a profound psychological and financial impact on Israel. Last year 21 percent of Israeli companies reported losses because of the boycott movement. She said that Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s greatest scientists, rejected the invitation to address the Israeli president’s conference in May. His refusal drew 200,000 Facebook followers. A Guardian poll revealed that his decision was supported two to one and has been a big boost to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS).<br /><br />Those who listened to Tarachansky applauded her courage and moral fortitude. They also felt deep sympathy for the Palestinian victims of brutality and injustice.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130524167065" target="_blank">Source</a>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-49670084420872350412012-12-02T19:25:00.001-05:002012-12-02T19:25:23.185-05:00The REAL Al-Aqsa Mosque<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Many people don't know what <b>Al-Aqsa mosque</b> is because of the media; incorrectly identifying Al-Aqsa mosque with the Dome of the Rock and vice versa. Please do read this, and teach it to your sons and daughters.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Blessed: It must be emphasized that the whole area enclosed by the wall, including both The dome of the Rock and The Qibly prayer hall.<br /><br />Al-Aqsa mosque is the name for the whole area enclosed by the wall in southeast Old Jerusalem. It houses nearly 200 archaeological buildings, foremost among which are the Dome of the Rock (with the golden dome) at its heart, and Al-Qibly Prayer Hall (with the lead dome) at its southernmost part, nearer to the Qiblah at Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Other buildings include minor prayer halls, domes, mihrabs (=chambers for prayer), schools, corridors, mastabas (=slightly raised grounds constructed for several uses including education), fountains, trees, minbars (=pulpits), gates, wells, libraries, among other buildings, in addition to the open yards enclosed by the wall.<br /><br />Al-Aqsa Mosque is a semi rectangle of 144 donums (=144,000 square meters); that is about 1/6 of the walled old city of Jerusalem. Its western wall is 491 meters long, its eastern wall is 462m, its northern wall is 310m, and its southern wall is 281m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>*Information was taken from Activists around the world for Palestine (facebook page). You can visit their page here: http://www.facebook.com/activists.palestine</b></span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">*</b></div>
Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-63778216332504845232012-11-17T21:23:00.000-05:002012-11-17T21:23:02.670-05:00Myths Debunked about Hamas Rockets<br />
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<a class="title" href="http://tattooed-yogi.tumblr.com/post/35873169880/things-you-should-know-about-rockets-from-gaza" style="color: #1d1801; font-size: 1em; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: initial;">Things you should know about rockets from Gaza:</a><br /><div class="space small" style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 500px;">
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<li>They are homemade. No, really. <strong>They cost about $800 to make, which makes them incredibly primitive.</strong> They do not use any advanced technology and cannot be guided, directed, or controlled. They are largely ineffective and have a very limited range (up to a maximum of 20 km/12.4 mi). See <a href="http://current.com/groups/on-current-tv/89666922_gaza-rockets.htm" style="color: #2cb6e4;">this video</a> from Current TV for a demonstration of how they are made.</li>
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<li>In the past 9 years, about 6,000 homemade Qassam rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel by various groups. <strong>Of those, over 90% landed in uninhabited areas, causing no injuries or damage</strong>. Seriously. Did I mention these things are really ineffective?</li>
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<li>Israel’s missile/rocket defense system, called the Iron Dome, is set up to intercept rockets/missiles fired into Israel, primarily from Gaza and Lebanon. They don’t stop every projectile that crosses the border—only those that, according to trajectory models calculated by sophisticated computer programs using data from radar, are likely to land in populated areas (or, more specifically, militarily significant areas). <strong>If a rocket is projected to land in a populated area, a $40,000, highly sophisticated guided-missile is launched to intercept and destroy said $800 Qassam rocket.</strong> If the rocket is projected to land in an uninhabited area, the system does not respond and the rocket completes it path, landing in the middle of nowhere and hurting no one. This means that very few rockets from Gaza ever land in civilian populated areas, and thus rarely cause any lasting damage. (<a href="http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Terrorists-Deploy-Multiple-Rocket-Launchers-11-3-2012.asp" style="color: #2cb6e4;">Source</a>)</li>
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<li><strong>Qassam rockets fired from Gaza have resulted in fewer than 25 deaths in the last 9 years</strong>, including the most recent rocket attacks. <em>(Note: Qassams do not account for all deaths on the Israeli side. Over the last nine years, another 20-25 were killed by mortar fire, and 2 were killed by anti-tank missiles. See <a href="http://www.btselem.org/israeli_civilians/qassam_missiles" style="color: #2cb6e4;">B’Tselem</a> for more</em>). For comparison, the <strong>IDF killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians in less than one month</strong> during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/2009. More than half of the dead were deemed to have taken no part in the conflict. Another 5,300 Palestinians were wounded in these attacks. More than 3,500 residential dwellings were destroyed and more than 20,000 people were left homeless. And all of this was done over the span of a single month. (For more, <a href="http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/castlead_operation" style="color: #2cb6e4;">read this</a>).</li>
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<li>Groups in Gaza that rely on Qassam rockets do so because they are the only available options. They do not have access to $40,000 guided missiles like the IDF. They use crudely made, ineffective, and unreliable homemade rockets because that is simply all they have access to.</li>
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<li>The fact that Hamas has killed fewer Israelis than the IDF has killed Palestinians does not reflect a moral superiority on the part of Hamas. If they had more effective and deadly weapons, they would use them. The death toll difference is more a reflection of the grave disparity in resources and technology, not a difference of morality. <strong>That being said, nothing can justify Israel’s clearly disproportionate response.</strong> No matter how you look at it, the IDF is still clearly in violation of both the Geneva Conventions and Just War Theory. They are recklessly targeting civilian populated areas and, as a result, killing civilians. They are relying on extra-judicial executions. They are using unnecessary and disproportionate force. <strong>And they are attacking an occupied population.</strong> What the IDF is doing could very easily be argued to amount to genocide.</li>
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Original source <a href="http://tattooed-yogi.tumblr.com/post/35873169880/things-you-should-know-about-rockets-from-gaza" target="_blank">Things you should know about rockets from Gaza</a></div>
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Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-67066164205961393632012-05-14T20:24:00.000-04:002012-05-14T20:24:04.778-04:00Nakba: That's not fair<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following poem is by a Palestinian poet named Iqbal Tamimi</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>That's not fair</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1917<br />A man by the name of Balfour<br />From a very far land called Britain<br />Offered total strangers<br />Across oceans and shores<br />My homeland as a gift<br />He was not the owner of my country<br />Nor they have the right to be there<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />He said they were oppressed in Europe<br />And were treated very bad<br />We had nothing to do with his claims<br />He did not offer them part of his country<br />Yet he gave them everything we had<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />While the Ottomans were leaving Palestine<br />The British arrived<br />We were told the British mandate is there<br />To make sure peace prevail<br />But the British turned a blind eye<br />To the Jewish gangsters horrors<br />They were offered training and arms<br />By which they massacred our families<br />Wiping our villages from all the maps<br />And those who escaped death<br />The Zionists terrorised them<br />Forcing them to flee<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />The United Nations did not ask us what we think<br />They claimed the intention is to solve the conflict<br />They segmented my country on a platter<br />They gave the owners of the land the breadcrumbs<br />And gave the occupiers the biggest share<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />We became refugees<br />In our own home land<br />Mine fields, barbed wire and road blocks split us apart<br />My home became a headquarter<br />For the Israeli police<br />Total strangers from as far as Poland and Russia<br />Occupied our homes<br />Stolen our water and fruits<br />And imprisoned those who dared to declare<br />That they are not going to leave<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />In 1967<br />We were enjoying a day out<br />On the other side of the Jordan River<br />The Israeli army invaded the West Bank<br />Occupying our homes again<br />Rearranging our destiny<br />We were denied the right to go back<br />Forced to became second time refugees<br />Carrying on our shoulders<br />Our plight and despair<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />The good USA sent its aid<br />To both sides across the sea<br />The Israeli occupiers received<br />Rockets, tankers, planes and bombs<br />While the Palestinian refugees’ share<br />Was tents, biscuits and canned sardines<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />The secular politicians of the democratic West<br />Suddenly turned religious<br />When the Palestinian plight was discussed<br />They endorsed a racist God<br />Who says some of his children are chosen<br />And better than the rest<br />He gave them permission<br />To kill, maim and steal from their brothers<br />And use an iron fist<br />That was not fair<br /><br /><br />I am one of five million dispersed<br />People eye them with disgust<br />Frequently asked:<br />“why don’t you go home?”<br />Well…what can I say?<br />Your government approved kicking me out of my homeland<br />And forced you<br />To share your loaf of bread with me<br />Your media calls the freedom fighters terrorists<br />And the racist state a democracy<br />Turning a blind eye to thousands of Palestinians<br />Rotting inside Israeli jails<br />Palestinians in Gaza<br />Were starved to death<br />While the apartheid wall<br />And the illegitimate settlements<br />Are not challenged by the International Community<br />We are the legitimate owners of the land<br />Yet we were forced to shelter<br />In refugee camps for 63 years<br />Watching across the borders savages<br />Uprooting our trees<br />That is not fair<br /><br /><br />When Mary is forced<br />To go through 16 check points<br />Between Nazerath and Bethlehem<br />And still gives birth on the side of the road<br />For fabricated reasons of security<br />While the soldiers stand and stare<br />That is not fair<br /><br /><br />When children at schools<br />Do not know where Palestine is<br />Because Google forged the facts<br />Deleting its name from the maps<br />That is not fair<br /><br /><br />When I’m denied access to my home<br />And forced to move 56 times<br />Carrying my memories in my head<br />Knowing that I will never sleep<br />In my own bed<br />Or hang family pictures on a wall<br />That I can call mine<br />That is not fair<br /><br /><br />When the number of suitcases<br />Outnumbers the relatives who remained alive<br />When the number of true facts circulated<br />Are much less than those of lies<br />That is not fair<br /><br /><br />Here I am in exile alone<br />Lost everything I had<br />No family weddings to attend<br />No feasts to celebrate<br />My belongings are not that much<br />A mirror<br />To watch the grey invade my hair<br />And shreds of newspapers<br />Attributing the victims of terror<br />That is not fair</span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-45979734766076502442012-03-01T19:04:00.000-05:002012-03-01T19:04:23.461-05:00The Committee on Jerusalem: The occupation forces are carrying out a new type of "Judaization"<div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The news article (<a href="http://www.infopal.it/23448/">La commissione gerosolimitana: le forze di occupazione stanno portando avanti un nuovo tipo di “ebraicizzazione”</a>) was translated from Italian:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</b></span></div>The Committee on Jerusalem: the occupation forces are carrying out a new type of "Judaization"</b><br />
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Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) - Pal.info. The Muslim-Christian Committee for the defense of the holy places has warned that the Israeli occupation authorities are developing a new type of "Judaization" in occupied Jerusalem.<br />
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The commission, in press, has announced that the Israeli occupation is planning to build a cemetery of six floors, which can hold 35 thousand well-tombs in Jerusalem, adding that the intention part of the plan of "Judaization" of whole area.<br />
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The committee felt this decision would be the implementation of a new type of politics "Judaization" of Jerusalem, in addition to those already in place, and providing for the construction of numeroussynagogues and all around them, Jewish settlements.<br />
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The committee also highlighted the Israeli intention to build 11 new railroads in the West Bank, to ensure the connections between the various settlements scattered throughout the region.<br />
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It is therefore clear design pursued by Tel Aviv, which at first had expropriated thousands of acres of Palestinian land, then build the wall of annexation and settlements that now going to connect with new railroad.<br />
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The commission has therefore appealed to Islamic countries and the international community to become aware of such "crimes", also increasing rapidly.<br />
</span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-12556433612805790952012-03-01T18:37:00.000-05:002012-03-01T18:37:47.832-05:00February 2012: 145 Israeli attacks against Palestinian people and property<div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The news article (<a href="http://www.infopal.it/febbraio-2012-145-attacchi-israeliani-contro-persone-e-proprieta-palestinesi/">Febbraio 2012: 145 attacchi israeliani contro persone e proprietà palestinesi</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">) was translated from Italian:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div><b>February 2012: 145 Israeli attacks against Palestinian people and property</b></span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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Ramallah - InfoPal. A Palestinian report exposes 145 attacks by Israeli (occupation soldiers and settlers) which took place in February.</span><div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The attacks are meant to people and Palestinian property and Tala'at Ramiyah mentions the killing of 26 Palestinians and wounded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The paper shows the extent of demolition and unilateral seizures of land scarred, Judaization of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the attacks on demonstrators and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. <br />
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February 2012</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">54 demolition operations. Half of the building demolitions have invested al-Khalil (Hebron). Nablus followed with 12 demolitions and same amount was recorded in Jerusalem and Toubas (houses and stables). Three wells have been killed by Israelis in al-Khalil (Hebron) and one in Jenin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">88 Notification of demolition, including two against mosques and against a school (Hebron and Jenin).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Specifically, the demolitions have hit Hebron in 24 cases. Here are the 22 events in Jerusalem (Silwan, Sur Baher and Bethany), 17 in Bethlehem, 15 in Jenin, Salfit, and 2 to 8 in Qalqiliya.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Palestinian land confiscated under these operations covers a total area of 4.931 hectares.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Trees uprooted: 1.169. The greatest damage has been made at Sourif and Beit Omar, and Tarmas'ia Mikhmas.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Judaization of Jerusalem.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmc47GL-pi-I7_XbGYJe_eVs8xeBMz_B78g3pVtH6-VDleMvp43xh3n0fwtywtFZemW6q-pRD3ZB1LJzgnpzW63aGsA474nOGTr8WaQtwYWQ-dYhB8Mouj8iyBGsswzpuQe4blD8RYaYv/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmc47GL-pi-I7_XbGYJe_eVs8xeBMz_B78g3pVtH6-VDleMvp43xh3n0fwtywtFZemW6q-pRD3ZB1LJzgnpzW63aGsA474nOGTr8WaQtwYWQ-dYhB8Mouj8iyBGsswzpuQe4blD8RYaYv/s1600/3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Judaization project is conducted without discrimination by institutions, the executive (police and army) and Israeli settlers and intends to disfigure, to destroy the historical-religious Arab Muslim and Christian of Palestine, through demolitions, expulsions, unsustainable tax burden the Palestinian community in Jerusalem.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In this regard, we list here some of the most striking facts dating back to February 2012:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- It covers about 4 thousand square meters an ambitious Israeli project that threatens the mosque of al-Aqsa. Israel plans to build here the Jewish center "Aliya Bet";</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1.500 square feet will occupy the western side of the door-Mugaribah. On the north side a three-storey building will cover 3.722 square meters, with a plan to build underground excavations;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- The "center of the Past" in Wadi al-Helwe (Silwan) adjacent centers and car parks;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Tunnels and underground tunnels in the basement of the Old City of Jerusalem.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Reactions to non-violent demonstrations. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The repression has characterized, once again, the action of Israel against Palestinians and international riuscono a weekly protest against colonization and the Wall of Apartheid. The Palestinian villages of an-Nabi Saleh, Bil'in, Ni'lin, Kfar Qaddoum, Beit Omar, Qalandiya, 'Iraq Bourin and Kfar Deik suffered the injury of 22 demonstrators, five are journalists.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He then mentions the burning of the mosque an-Nabi Saleh (Ramallah) and the mosque Haloul an-Nabi Younes (Hebron).</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Israeli settlements in Palestine: the projects. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Extension and construction have also received approval in February the Israeli government.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- The colony of Shilo (between Ramallah and Nablus) will expand with 500 new housing units;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- The colony of Shevat Rachel (Nablus) will host 101 new housing units;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Itamar (Nablus) will host a Jewish religious school;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Settlement of Gush Etzion (Bethlehem). Here confisctaa confiscating Palestinian land to create military areas to protect the settlement;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- The outpost of Migron (Ramallah) extends even;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 18 new colonial furniture units were placed between Ramallah and Nablus.</span></div></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-8355975499914969252012-02-28T18:38:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:38:58.446-05:00Feb 28- Ferwana: 4600 prisoners in the prisons of the occupation, including 309 administrative detainees<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The following news (<a href="http://www.france-palestine.org/Ferwana-4600-prisonniers-dans-les">Ferwana : 4600 prisonniers dans les prisons de l’occupation, dont 309 </a><a href="http://www.france-palestine.org/Ferwana-4600-prisonniers-dans-les">détenus administratifs</a>) was translated from French:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Ferwana: 4600 prisoners in the prisons of the occupation, including 309 administrative detainees</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Bureau of Statistics Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners, Tuesday, February 28, 2012</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, former prisoner, Director of the Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of prisoners in Palestinian National Authority has today published a report containing the latest statistics on prisoners held in prisons and detention centers of the Israeli occupation, and in accordance with what is documented has the information and data.<br />
<br />
Ferwana Nasser has confirmed in its report that since 1967, until today nearly 750,000 apprehensions were recorded, including 12 000 women, among them four pregnant prisoners have given birth in difficult conditions and 10 000 children, and that these arrests were not limited to a specific category, but affect all levels of Palestinian society without exception.<br />
<br />
He also said that the total number of Palestinian prisoners in prisons and detention centers of the Israeli occupation has now reached 4,600 prisoners, including eight women, 138 children, 309 administrative detainees and 27 elected members including Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Hassan Yousef, in addition to the two former ministers and a number of political leaders detained in 17 prisons and detention centers and dozens of Arab prisoners of various nationalities, especially Jordanians, Syrians and Egyptians. He added that 3410 prisoners forming 74.1% of prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for various terms, including 533 prisoners sentenced to life twice or more, 456 prisoners has more than twenty years, and 1135 prisoners sentenced to more than 10 years but less than 20 years.<br />
<br />
Of these, 881 prisoners representing a rate of 19.2% which are under arrest and awaiting trial, and 309 administrative detainees who represent 6.7% of the total number of prisoners.<br />
<br />
Regarding the former prisoners, Ferwana talking about 57 "deans of prisoners", a term used for those held for more than twenty years in the prisons of the Israeli occupation, among them 23 prisoners have been held for more a quarter century. This is called "the generals of patience" with the Arab prisoner occupied Syrian Golan Sidqi Al-makt and Karim Younes, 48 in the occupied territories, held since January 1983 and is considered the prisoner the oldest with more than 28 years in prison.<br />
<br />
In his report, says Nasser Ferwana occupation forces arrested since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, nearly 10 000 children, 138 children are still in detention, they represent 3% of total prisoners, among them 118 children aged 16 to 18 years and 20 children under 16 years. They are exposed to suffering, torture and unfair trials, thus violating their fundamental rights and their future in contravention of international law and the Convention of the Child.<br />
<br />
Today eight Palestinian women are held in inappropriate places, regardless of their conditions of women and no respect for their fundamental rights stipulated by international conventions and humanitarian.<br />
<br />
Lina Jarbuni 38 years of Arabeh Bathouf in the occupied territories in 1948, is the oldest inmate. She was arrested April 15, 2002 and is serving 17 years.<br />
<br />
Wurud Maher Kasem 26 years of Al-Tireh in the occupied territories in 1948, was arrested on 4 October 2006 and is serving six years. The parole board decided to release her after she had served more than two thirds of his sentence. However, the prosecutor appealed the decision. On 21 November 2011, the regional court in Petah Tiqva accepted the appeal and revoked the release prematurely.<br />
<br />
Saga Alalami 18 years of Beitunia Ramallah district, arrested Jan. 9, 2012<br />
Alaa Juabi, a minor, of Hebron, arrested on 7 December 2011.<br />
Salwa Hasan, of Hebron, arrested on 19 October 2011<br />
Mufika Qawasme, of Hebron, arrested Feb. 15, 2012<br />
Muna Abu Sanina, of Hebron, arrested Feb. 15, 2012<br />
Hana Al-Shalabi, 28, of Jenin, released in October 2011 following the agreement Shalit, then arrested on 16 February 2012, she continues a hunger strike for 11 days to protest against his arrest and subsequent violence, and its arbitrary administrative detention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
Ferwana Nasser reported in his report in accordance with what is documented that the total number of martyrs of the movement of captivity since 1967 amounted to 202 martyrs. And among them 51 prisoners died due to medical negligence, 70 prisoners died under torture, 74 prisoners were killed intentionally after being arrested and killed seven other prisoners in their cells by the use of forceexcessive and with live ammunition in prisons and detention centers.<br />
<br />
He recalled that in addition, dozens of former inmates died after liberation by the disease contracted in prison, or who were released before the expiration of their sentences because of their deteriorating condition health and died after release from a few months, as Hael Abu Zeid Al-Wali Sitan the Golan Heights, and Zechariah Issa, Fayez Abu Murad Sakut Zaidat and the West Bank and many others.<br />
<br />
Mr. Ferwana appeals to associations and institutions dealing with prisoners and the bodies of human rights and humanitarian coordination to work together by adopting a unified strategy for the cause of prisoners.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-91476691459696425422012-02-28T18:30:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:30:28.724-05:00Feb 28: Palestinian Islamists doubt meeting on Jerusalem<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The following news (<a href="http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=482534&Itemid=1">Islamistas palestinos duvidam de reunião sobre Jerusalém</a>) was translated from Portuguese:<br />
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<b>Palestinian Islamists doubt meeting on Jerusalem</b></span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b>Gaza, February 28 (Prensa Latina) A political leader of the Islamist movement Hamas today thanked the international diplomatic efforts in favor of the Palestinians, but estimated that a recent meeting in Qatar on Jerusalem was only important for the media propaganda.<br />
<br />
Speaking to an Iranian news agency, Fars News broadcast in Gaza, the political adviser of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in fact noted that the meeting held in Doha lacked practical results to stop the Israeli Judaization of the holy city.<br />
<br />
Youssef Rizka, adviser to the leader of Hamas to political issues, acknowledged that the meeting brought together some 350 representatives from 70 countries, the authorities of the Arab League and UN, but did not modify the inattention to the demands of Israel and resolutions.<br />
<br />
The meeting in Doha, which sessionou on 26 and 27 February, it was important for the media, "especially because of the presence in it of some important political figures and leaders," said Rizka.<br />
<br />
He insisted that Tel Aviv continues to erase the Arab and Islamic identity of El-Quds (the Arabic name of Jerusalem) and the expansion of settlements, issues unrelated to the forums of complaint and conviction.<br />
<br />
"Conferences such as these have no effect on plots (Zionists), since only are good for media consumption," repressed.<br />
<br />
Similarly, other figures have warned that such meetings "only give Israel the opportunity to buy time to finance your stage of Judaizing" the city that houses the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holy place of Islam.<br />
<br />
In respect, the analyst also said Lebanese Ibrahim Bayram Fars News that Tel Aviv does not give any value to these forums concluded under the slogan of defending the Islamic holy places, so that does not have any respect for the Arab League.<br />
<br />
According to Bayram, the Israelis only give importance to strength and this is the only route by which it may abort Zionist conspiracies aimed at ending the Palestinian issue and its holy sites.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, Professor Paul Larudee opined that the United States and its Western allies have supported Israel and complicit in the crime "does not resolve the dispute over the the city, which is considered holy to four billion Christians, Muslims and Jews.<br />
<br />
"The world has an opportunity to hold a project of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem that has been underway since at least 1967 (the date of the Zionist occupation of Arab territories), and-in a broader context, for over a century," said activist of Iranian origin.<br />
<br />
Deplored the racism against the Palestinians is protected by Israeli law and warned that "Judaization" is a term with the same stigma of "apartheid", "ethnic cleansing", "segregation" and others that describe the elimination of a people in favor of other. </span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-61734585710607471142012-02-21T01:20:00.000-05:002012-02-21T01:20:45.322-05:00"As the Arabs see the Jews": His Majesty King Abdullah<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i>"As the Arabs see the Jews"</i></b> by His Majesty King Abdullah</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The American Magazine November, 1947<br />
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<br />
Summary <br />
<br />
This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein’s grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In the article, King Abdullah disputes the mistaken view that Arab opposition to Zionism (and later the state of Israel) is because of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He notes that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe. King Abdullah also asks how Jews can claim a historic right to Palestine, when Arabs have been the overwhelming majority there for nearly 1300 uninterrupted years? The essay ends on an ominous note, warning of dire consequences if a peaceful solution cannot be found to protect the rights of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine. <br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">"As the Arabs see the Jews" His Majesty King Abdullah, The American MagazineNovember, 1947 </div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am especially delighted to address an American audience, for the tragic problem of Palestine will never be solved without American understanding, American sympathy, American support.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So many billions of words have been written about Palestine—perhaps more than on any other subject in history—that I hesitate to add to them. Yet I am compelled to do so, for I am reluctantly convinced that the world in general, and America in particular, knows almost nothing of the true case for the Arabs.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We Arabs follow, perhaps far more than you think, the press of America. We are frankly disturbed to find that for every word printed on the Arab side, a thousand are printed on the Zionist side.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are many reasons for this. You have many millions of Jewish citizens interested in this question. They are highly vocal and wise in the ways of publicity. There are few Arab citizens in America, and we are as yet unskilled in the technique of modern propaganda.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The results have been alarming for us. In your press we see a horrible caricature and are told it is our true portrait. In all justice, we cannot let this pass by default.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our case is quite simple: For nearly 2,000 years Palestine has been almost 100 per cent Arab. It is still preponderantly Arab today, in spite of enormous Jewish immigration. But if this immigration continues we shall soon be outnumbered—a minority in our home.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Palestine is a small and very poor country, about the size of your state of Vermont. Its Arab population is only about 1,200,000. Already we have had forced on us, against our will, some 600,000 Zionist Jews. We are threatened with many hundreds of thousands more.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our position is so simple and natural that we are amazed it should even be questioned. It is exactly the same position you in America take in regard to the unhappy European Jews. You are sorry for them, but you do not want them in your country.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We do not want them in ours, either. Not because they are Jews, but because they are foreigners. We would not want hundreds of thousands of foreigners in our country, be they Englishmen or Norwegians or Brazilians or whatever.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Think for a moment: In the last 25 years we have had one third of our entire population forced upon us. In America that would be the equivalent of 45,000,000 complete strangers admitted to your country, over your violent protest, since 1921. How would you have reacted to that?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Because of our perfectly natural dislike of being overwhelmed in our own homeland, we are called blind nationalists and heartless anti-Semites. This charge would be ludicrous were it not so dangerous.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No people on earth have been less "anti-Semitic" than the Arabs. The persecution of the Jews has been confined almost entirely to the Christian nations of the West. Jews, themselves, will admit that never since the Great Dispersion did Jews develop so freely and reach such importance as in Spain when it was an Arab possession. With very minor exceptions, Jews have lived for many centuries in the Middle East, in complete peace and friendliness with their Arab neighbours.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and other Arab centres have always contained large and prosperous Jewish colonies. Until the Zionist invasion of Palestine began, these Jews received the most generous treatment—far, far better than in Christian Europe. Now, unhappily, for the first time in history, these Jews are beginning to feel the effects of Arab resistance to the Zionist assault. Most of them are as anxious as Arabs to stop it. Most of these Jews who have found happy homes among us resent, as we do, the coming of these strangers.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was puzzled for a long time about the odd belief which apparently persists in America that Palestine has somehow "always been a Jewish land." Recently an American I talked to cleared up this mystery. He pointed out that the only things most Americans know about Palestine are what they read in the Bible. It was a Jewish land in those days, they reason, and they assume it has always remained so.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is absurd to reach so far back into the mists of history to argue about who should have Palestine today, and I apologise for it. Yet the Jews do this, and I must reply to their "historic claim." I wonder if the world has ever seen a stranger sight than a group of people seriously pretending to claim a land because their ancestors lived there some 2,000 years ago!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you suggest that I am biased, I invite you to read any sound history of the period and verify the facts.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Such fragmentary records as we have indicate that the Jews were wandering nomads from Iraq who moved to southern Turkey, came south to Palestine, stayed there a short time, and then passed to Egypt, where they remained about 400 years. About 1300 BC (according to your calendar) they left Egypt and gradually conquered most—but not all—of the inhabitants of Palestine.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is significant that the Philistines—not the Jews—gave their name to the country: "Palestine" is merely the Greek form of "Philistia."<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Only once, during the empire of David and Solomon, did the Jews ever control nearly—but not all—the land which is today Palestine. This empire lasted only 70 years, ending in 926 BC. Only 250 years later the Kingdom of Judah had shrunk to a small province around Jerusalem, barely a quarter of modern Palestine.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In 63 BC the Jews were conquered by Roman Pompey, and never again had even the vestige of independence. The Roman Emperor Hadrian finally wiped them out about 135 AD. He utterly destroyed Jerusalem, rebuilt under another name, and for hundreds of years no Jew was permitted to enter it. A handful of Jews remained in Palestine but the vast majority were killed or scattered to other countries, in the Diaspora, or the Great Dispersion. From that time Palestine ceased to be a Jewish country, in any conceivable sense.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This was 1,815 years ago, and yet the Jews solemnly pretend they still own Palestine! If such fantasy were allowed, how the map of the world would dance about!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Italians might claim England, which the Romans held so long. England might claim France, "homeland" of the conquering Normans. And the French Normans might claim Norway, where their ancestors originated. And incidentally, we Arabs might claim Spain, which we held for 700 years.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Many Mexicans might claim Spain, "homeland" of their forefathers. They might even claim Texas, which was Mexican until 100 years ago. And suppose the American Indians claimed the "homeland" of which they were the sole, native, and ancient occupants until only some 450 years ago!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am not being facetious. All these claims are just as valid—or just as fantastic—as the Jewish "historic connection" with Palestine. Most are more valid.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In any event, the great Muslim expansion about 650 AD finally settled things. It dominated Palestine completely. From that day on, Palestine was solidly Arabic in population, language, and religion. When British armies entered the country during the last war, they found 500,000 Arabs and only 65,000 Jews.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If solid, uninterrupted Arab occupation for nearly 1,300 years does not make a country "Arab", what does?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Jews say, and rightly, that Palestine is the home of their religion. It is likewise the birthplace of Christianity, but would any Christian nation claim it on that account? In passing, let me say that the Christian Arabs—and there are many hundreds of thousands of them in the Arab World—are in absolute agreement with all other Arabs in opposing the Zionist invasion of Palestine.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May I also point out that Jerusalem is, after Mecca and Medina, the holiest place in Islam. In fact, in the early days of our religion, Muslims prayed toward Jerusalem instead of Mecca.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Jewish "religious claim" to Palestine is as absurd as the "historic claim." The Holy Places, sacred to three great religions, must be open to all, the monopoly of none. Let us not confuse religion and politics.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We are told that we are inhumane and heartless because do not accept with open arms the perhaps 200,000 Jews in Europe who suffered so frightfully under Nazi cruelty, and who even now—almost three years after war’s end—still languish in cold, depressing camps.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me underline several facts. The unimaginable persecution of the Jews was not done by the Arabs: it was done by a Christian nation in the West. The war which ruined Europe and made it almost impossible for these Jews to rehabilitate themselves was fought by the Christian nations of the West. The rich and empty portions of the earth belong, not to the Arabs, but to the Christian nations of the West.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And yet, to ease their consciences, these Christian nations of the West are asking Palestine—a poor and tiny Muslim country of the East—to accept the entire burden. "We have hurt these people terribly," cries the West to the East. "Won’t you please take care of them for us?"<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We find neither logic nor justice in this. Are we therefore "cruel and heartless nationalists"?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We are a generous people: we are proud that "Arab hospitality" is a phrase famous throughout the world. We are a humane people: no one was shocked more than we by the Hitlerite terror. No one pities the present plight of the desperate European Jews more than we.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But we say that Palestine has already sheltered 600,000 refugees. We believe that is enough to expect of us—even too much. We believe it is now the turn of the rest of the world to accept some of them.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will be entirely frank with you. There is one thing the Arab world simply cannot understand. Of all the nations of the earth, America is most insistent that something be done for these suffering Jews of Europe. This feeling does credit to the humanity for which America is famous, and to that glorious inscription on your Statue of Liberty.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And yet this same America—the richest, greatest, most powerful nation the world has ever known—refuses to accept more than a token handful of these same Jews herself!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I hope you will not think I am being bitter about this. I have tried hard to understand that mysterious paradox, and I confess I cannot. Nor can any other Arab.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Perhaps you have been informed that "the Jews in Europe want to go to no other place except Palestine."<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This myth is one of the greatest propaganda triumphs of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the organisation which promotes with fanatic zeal the emigration to Palestine. It is a subtle half-truth, thus doubly dangerous.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The astounding truth is that nobody on earth really knows where these unfortunate Jews really want to go!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You would think that in so grave a problem, the American, British, and other authorities responsible for the European Jews would have made a very careful survey, probably by vote, to find out where each Jew actually wants to go. Amazingly enough this has never been done! The Jewish Agency has prevented it. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some time ago the American Military Governor in Germany was asked at a press conference how he was so certain that all Jews there wanted to go to Palestine. His answer was simple: "My Jewish advisors tell me so." He admitted no poll had ever been made. Preparations were indeed begun for one, but the Jewish Agency stepped in to stop it.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The truth is that the Jews in German camps are now subjected to a Zionist pressure campaign which learned much from the Nazi terror. It is dangerous for a Jew to say that he would rather go to some other country, not Palestine. Such dissenters have been severely beaten, and worse.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not long ago, in Palestine, nearly 1,000 Austrian Jews informed the international refugee organisation that they would like to go back to Austria, and plans were made to repatriate them.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Jewish Agency heard of this, and exerted enough political pressure to stop it. It would be bad propaganda for Zionism if Jews began leaving Palestine. The nearly 1,000 Austrian are still there, against their will.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The fact is that most of the European Jews are Western in culture and outlook, entirely urban in experience and habits. They cannot really have their hearts set on becoming pioneers in the barren, arid, cramped land which is Palestine.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One thing, however, is undoubtedly true. As matters stand now, most refugee Jews in Europe would, indeed, vote for Palestine, simply because they know no other country will have them.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you or I were given a choice between a near-prison camp for the rest of our lives—or Palestine—we would both choose Palestine, too.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But open up any other alternative to them—give them any other choice, and see what happens!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No poll, however, will be worth anything unless the nations of the earth are willing to open their doors—just a little—to the Jews. In other words, if in such a poll a Jew says he wants to go to Sweden, Sweden must be willing to accept him. If he votes for America, you must let him come in.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Any other kind of poll would be a farce. For the desperate Jew, this is no idle testing of opinion: this is a grave matter of life or death. Unless he is absolutely sure that his vote means something, he will always vote for Palestine, so as not to risk his bird in the hand for one in the bush.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In any event, Palestine can accept no more. The 65,000 Jews in Palestine in 1918 have jumped to 600,000 today. We Arabs have increased, too, but not by immigration. The Jews were then a mere 11 per cent of our population. Today they are one third of it.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The rate of increase has been terrifying. In a few more years—unless stopped now—it will overwhelm us, and we shall be an important minority in our own home.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Surely the rest of the wide world is rich enough and generous enough to find a place for 200,000 Jews—about one third the number that tiny, poor Palestine has already sheltered. For the rest of the world, it is hardly a drop in the bucket. For us it means national suicide.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We are sometimes told that since the Jews came to Palestine, the Arab standard of living has improved. This is a most complicated question. But let us even assume, for the argument, that it is true. We would rather be a bit poorer, and masters of our own home. Is this unnatural?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The sorry story of the so-called "Balfour Declaration," which started Zionist immigration into Palestine, is too complicated to repeat here in detail. It is grounded in broken promises to the Arabs—promises made in cold print which admit no denying.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We utterly deny its validity. We utterly deny the right of Great Britain to give away Arab land for a "national home" for an entirely foreign people.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even the League of Nations sanction does not alter this. At the time, not a single Arab state was a member of the League. We were not allowed to say a word in our own defense.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I must point out, again in friendly frankness, that America was nearly as responsible as Britain for this Balfour Declaration. President Wilson approved it before it was issued, and the American Congress adopted it word for word in a joint resolution on 30th June, 1922.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the 1920s, Arabs were annoyed and insulted by Zionist immigration, but not alarmed by it. It was steady, but fairly small, as even the Zionist founders thought it would remain. Indeed for some years, more Jews left Palestine than entered it—in 1927 almost twice as many.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But two new factors, entirely unforeseen by Britain or the League or America or the most fervent Zionist, arose in the early thirties to raise the immigration to undreamed heights. One was the World Depression; the second the rise of Hitler.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In 1932, the year before Hitler came to power, only 9,500 Jews came to Palestine. We did not welcome them, but we were not afraid that, at that rate, our solid Arab majority would ever be in danger.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But the next year—the year of Hitler—it jumped to 30,000! In 1934 it was 42,000! In 1935 it reached 61,000!<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was no longer the orderly arrival of idealist Zionists. Rather, all Europe was pouring its frightened Jews upon us. Then, at last, we, too, became frightened. We knew that unless this enormous influx stopped, we were, as Arabs, doomed in our Palestine homeland. And we have not changed our minds.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have the impression that many Americans believe the trouble in Palestine is very remote from them, that America had little to do with it, and that your only interest now is that of a humane bystander.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I believe that you do not realise how directly you are, as a nation, responsible in general for the whole Zionist move and specifically for the present terrorism. I call this to your attention because I am certain that if you realise your responsibility you will act fairly to admit it and assume it.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Quite aside from official American support for the "National Home" of the Balfour Declaration, the Zionist settlements in Palestine would have been almost impossible, on anything like the current scale, without American money. This was contributed by American Jewry in an idealistic effort to help their fellows.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The motive was worthy: the result were disastrous. The contributions were by private individuals, but they were almost entirely Americans, and, as a nation, only America can answer for it.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The present catastrophe may be laid almost entirely at your door. Your government, almost alone in the world, is insisting on the immediate admission of 100,000 more Jews into Palestine—to be followed by countless additional ones. This will have the most frightful consequences in bloody chaos beyond anything ever hinted at in Palestine before.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is your press and political leadership, almost alone in the world, who press this demand. It is almost entirely American money which hires or buys the "refugee ships" that steam illegally toward Palestine: American money which pays their crews. The illegal immigration from Europe is arranged by the Jewish Agency, supported almost entirely by American funds. It is American dollars which support the terrorists, which buy the bullets and pistols that kill British soldiers—your allies—and Arab citizens—your friends.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We in the Arab world were stunned to hear that you permit open advertisements in newspapers asking for money to finance these terrorists, to arm them openly and deliberately for murder. We could not believe this could really happen in the modern world. Now we must believe it: we have seen the advertisements with our own eyes.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I point out these things because nothing less than complete frankness will be of use. The crisis is too stark for mere polite vagueness which means nothing.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have the most complete confidence in the fair-mindedness and generosity of the American public. We Arabs ask no favours. We ask only that you know the full truth, not half of it. We ask only that when you judge the Palestine question, you put yourselves in our place.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What would your answer be if some outside agency told you that you must accept in America many millions of utter strangers in your midst—enough to dominate your country—merely because they insisted on going to America, and because their forefathers had once lived there some 2,000 years ago?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our answer is the same.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And what would be your action if, in spite of your refusal, this outside agency began forcing them on you?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ours will be the same.</span></blockquote></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-86692952710223530862012-02-15T13:32:00.000-05:002012-02-15T13:32:59.605-05:00Khader Adnan: One Man's Struggle & a nation's resistance against occupation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As many of us around the world go about on our day- going to school, going to work, traveling to see friends and relatives, many others are denied this right. While some enjoy the basic right of being innocent until proven guilty, many others are detained in the most grueling way- blindfolded and dragged out of your home… and all the while, not even charged with a single crime. This is what happened to Khader Adnan, a Palestinian man who lives in the West Bank.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We must ask ourselves, as living in the 21st century, the 'Golden Age', how does something so barbaric still exist? Edmund Burke tells it succinctly: <b style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">All it will take for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. </span></b> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sadly, Khader's struggle isn't unique. Many Palestinians are in Israeli jails- many of them not charged with a single crime. Many others are in jail for... wait for it... throwing stones. How does throwing stones compare to being armed with military weapons, tanks, F-16s, Apaches, tear gas and so forth? Not only that, but also using those to keep an entire population submissive, subdued and imprisoned within their own country. Caged in like a bunch of sheep with no freedom of movement.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As Khader goes on to his 60th day of his hunger strike, let us flood the Israeli embassies around the world with phone calls, letters and demonstrations. Let them hear our anger against their unjust 'justice' system.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Injustice and oppression does not last forever. As the world slowly awakes from its slumber, much needed change is sure to follow. And no matter how long it takes for the whole world to speak out such injustice, we as fellow brothers and sisters in humanity must do everything we can with everything we have to change the status quo. Perhaps the steel determination of Khader Adnan and the millions like him around the world will be the catalyst for much needed change. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>"No one is free until everyone is free!"- </b>Dr. Martin Luther King</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkhlftP38QWPHehCQVaTq-5Thg0vmelCuKQYHHXLWUWsTyXZcl3WQkNIQwbmEj3HHJ3Xd-8IT-LILiWJ2Y_evXP2L41xUENh8x9pNhiKOe6fzzD0Sq8JY0V3qus3klodEYhcqEmx8tlcQ/s1600/9+Khader+Adnan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkhlftP38QWPHehCQVaTq-5Thg0vmelCuKQYHHXLWUWsTyXZcl3WQkNIQwbmEj3HHJ3Xd-8IT-LILiWJ2Y_evXP2L41xUENh8x9pNhiKOe6fzzD0Sq8JY0V3qus3klodEYhcqEmx8tlcQ/s320/9+Khader+Adnan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-48203909569153169222011-12-23T18:17:00.000-05:002011-12-23T18:17:03.892-05:00Maldives- Rallying for Islam<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's not everyday that you even hear of the Maldives. Does anyone even know where that is? In case you don't, it is 700 km south-west of Sri Lanka and 400km south-west of India. Earlier today thousands of people in this island rallied for Islam. But alas, there was also another protest that rallied for a "moderate" Islam. What exactly does that even mean? Does the term "moderate" apply to Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoist or any other religion? Why is it restricted only to Islam? That, however, is for another day's discussion.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Both rallies began at 4PM local time. Many demonstrators held slogans <span style="line-height: 17px;">including “We stand united for Islam and the nation”, “No idols in this holy land”, “No to the Zionist Murderers”, “We stand for peace” and </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">“Islamic Shariah is equal to peace</span><span style="line-height: 17px;">” </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">among others. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">Demonstrators, which numbered 3000, also want the country's authorities to </span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">stop the sale of alcohol in the islands, as well as to shut down brothels operating in the guise of massage parlors.. both which are forbidden in Islam.</span><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Maldives' President </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">Mohamed Nasheed stated </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">“We can’t achieve development by going backwards to the Stone Age or being ignorant,”</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Demonstrators who rallied for a "moderate" version of Islam stated that they will "continue to practice a tolerant form of Islam" In other words, any form other than "moderate" Islam, will not be tolerant. Which is incorrect. If one were to study Islam from the authentic sources- the Qur'an and the books of Hadeeth, one can easily come to the conclusion that Islam is a religion of justice, peace and mercy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">With all that is happening in the Arab world, more countries need to rally for an Islamic revival; people need to rally for the Islamic Caliphate... they need to work for it, raise awareness, and invoke God for success to implement Shariah wherever they are.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Muslims make up more than 1 billion of the world's population, and that number is expected to climb in the coming years. If even half of this population were to rally for Islam, to fight against the defamers of this religion and call for the implementation of Shariah, no doubt would great success follow.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4j2Ov3L7GmTurt-D3kew8GExZKCES8VKYIY23GPaG0lGrBMBJL46_l7eMa5BPbyPw5sU-ugleKDj-s4A5fPpszv9d4hbJ5A_AQhAOuWcUSkV6qddekWaL3RwKV4hUZupAdCnznlO11Zdf/s1600/Maldives+rally+for+Islam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4j2Ov3L7GmTurt-D3kew8GExZKCES8VKYIY23GPaG0lGrBMBJL46_l7eMa5BPbyPw5sU-ugleKDj-s4A5fPpszv9d4hbJ5A_AQhAOuWcUSkV6qddekWaL3RwKV4hUZupAdCnznlO11Zdf/s1600/Maldives+rally+for+Islam.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #464646; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A Maldivian woman holds a placard that reads "Maldivians support leaders who follow Islam" during a protest calling on the government to enforce strict Islamic law in Male, Maldives, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011.</span></span> </td></tr>
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</span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-69547410607178392692011-10-12T20:42:00.000-04:002011-10-12T20:42:43.007-04:00Moved by FaithHow can I feel happiness when I can hear<br />
the children's cries from Iraq and Afghanistan<br />
from Palestine and Kashmir<br />
from Chechyna and Somalia<br />
<br />
How can I sleep soundly at night when I know<br />
the strife and struggle of my brethren in Libya and Syria<br />
My brethren in Bosnia and Lebanon<br />
<br />
How can I say that the world's a peaceful place<br />
when I hear the sad, entrenched grief of mothers who lost their sons<br />
Of wives who lost their husbands to wars<br />
Of children who lost their parents to persecution<br />
<br />
How can I be happy knowing that tomorrow<br />
a child in Africa may breathe their last because of starvation?<br />
<br />
How can I laugh till tears flow down my cheeks<br />
When my Mujahideen brethren are killed fighting for liberation<br />
when my brothers and sisters are persecuted for no reason other than<br />
believing in the Almighty<br />
<br />
O, what shame I feel,<br />
I truly have failed thee O my brethren...<br />
<br />
O Almighty, hear my plead<br />
please bring Sakinah [tranquillity] to the oppressed<br />
Replace their grief with joy<br />
And their tears with laughter<br />
And their oppression with freedom!<br />
<br />
O the Almighty who hears all prayers!<br />
please bring mankind back to Your Straight Path.<br />
Fill this world with justice and tranquillity<br />
as before this, it was filled with oppression and tyrannyRodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-91915153552161650582011-10-12T19:30:00.000-04:002011-10-12T19:30:14.219-04:00Babar Ahmad: 7 years illegally detained, 7 years of injustice<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Peace and Blessings to all readers,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I request your help with a very important cause, especially for those of you who live in the United Kingdom. A British citizen has been illegally detained for 7 years. Babar Ahmad </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #231f20; line-height: 19px;">has been detained in the UK for 7 years without trial fighting extradition to the USA under the controversial no-evidence-required Extradition Act 2003. In June 2011, the Houses of Parliament, Joint Committee on Human Rights urged the UK government to change the law so that Babar Ahmad’s perpetual threat of extradition is ended without further delay. Since all of the allegations against Babar Ahmad are said to have taken place in the UK, we call upon the British Government to put him on trial in the UK and support British Justice for British Citizens.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #231f20; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #231f20; line-height: 19px;">I not only appeal to all Muslims, since a Muslim is the brother (or sister) of another Muslim, and as the Prophetic hadith states: "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Feed the hungry, visit the sick and <b>set </b></span></span><em style="color: black; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><b>free the captives</b></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b>.</b>" - Sahih Al-Bukhari; but I also to appeal to all who believe in upholding justice for the falsely accused. In a post-9/11 area, many governments have failed to fulfil a fundamental human right- the right of an individual to be given a fair trail. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">For any reader who lives in the UK, please sign the following petition and please forward it to family, friends and colleagues. Keep in mind that anyone could be the next Babar Ahmad- the fasely accused and<b> illegally detained without evidence.</b> Wouldn't you want someone to stand up for you and declare your innocence?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/885">http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/885</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS: Please check your email, junk folder most likely, and confirm your vote/signature by clicking on the link. Thank You.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6nf41EEPjZKuLWExKSFHiASxM_y6dgQiw6HWL1-dUwsoAbWBARicT1c0B18BbFOcEhAlaUmYnREGFuBD_HiCPaYcVaiRb53z_Se9Sw5BC2dwINmS8A0TVyA_YFuHHFoO6EFSLvOsnNlB/s1600/Babar+Ahmad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6nf41EEPjZKuLWExKSFHiASxM_y6dgQiw6HWL1-dUwsoAbWBARicT1c0B18BbFOcEhAlaUmYnREGFuBD_HiCPaYcVaiRb53z_Se9Sw5BC2dwINmS8A0TVyA_YFuHHFoO6EFSLvOsnNlB/s1600/Babar+Ahmad.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</span></span></span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-5281110533250829982011-07-07T16:43:00.000-04:002011-07-07T16:43:10.432-04:00Kashmir's Martyrs<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2614682532481033043" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 506px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is an announcement to my fellow readers that an account has been set up on twitter that will specifically post up tweets on the names of Kashmir's martyrs. Their names, ages, and place of death (if known). I am hoping that you share this with family, friends and colleagues. Feel free to re-tweet, post it on your blogs and on your facebook pages. The account name is @KashmirShuhada.<br />
<br />
I also request that if you have any links that has names of any Kashmiris that have been killed by India's inhumane army and acts of aggression, no matter how far back it may be, to please post the link in the comments. My friends and I will try our best to honour Kashmir's martyrs, no matter who may dislike us doing so.<br />
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Thank you so much for your help.</span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-26146825324810330432011-07-07T02:02:00.000-04:002011-07-07T02:02:37.865-04:00Palestine's MartyrsThis is an announcement to my fellow readers that an account has been set up on Twitter that will specifically post up tweets on the names of Palestine's martyrs. Their names, ages, and place of death (if known). The list of names is very long and I am hoping that you share this with family, friends and colleagues. Feel free to re-tweet, post it on your blogs and on your facebook pages. The account name is @PalestineShuhda.<br />
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I also request that if you have any links that has names of any Palestinians that have been killed by Israel's acts of aggression, no matter how far back it may be, to please post the link in the comments. My friends and I will try our best to honour Palestine's martyrs, no matter who may dislike us doing so.<br />
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Thank you so much for your help.Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-2144430445524439982011-06-22T23:54:00.002-04:002011-06-23T00:55:31.563-04:00Zionists: Help Europe's population. Go back home.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a population to remain stable, births should match deaths<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">.</span></span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Furthermore, i</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">n order for <em style="font-style: normal;">population to sustain itself,</em> a country needs at least a birthrate of 2.1. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Looking at Europe, an estimate of the population put a figure of </span>726 million people in 2003. That number is projected to slump to 696 million by 2025.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">European women, on average, seem to be putting off having their first child. The average woman has 1.5 children, significantly lower than the 2.1 rate needed for Europe's population to sustain itself.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">In addition to fewer children being born, Europe's population is ageing. Italy alone </span>is projected to have no more than 45 million people in 2050, with a disproportionate share of them being 65 years and over.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Europe's future doesn't look too bright. Unless governments decide to increase immigration levels, which seems unlikely due to xenophobia, the population will continue to age and there will not be enough children being born to replace them.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Which brings us to the next point: why not have Zionists who occupy Palestine move back to their homeland?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Before going any further, let me be clear: I am not referring to Jewish people who have lived in Palestine, prior to 1948. I am referring to the extreme Zionists who consider it permissible to expel millions of Palestinians from their homes, both Muslim and Christian.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the end of WWII, the British government promised the Jewish people a "homeland" in Palestine. This document came to be known as the <b>Balfour Declaration</b>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">According to the British government at that time, for the sake of showing "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations", it was perfectly okay to oust many Palestinians from their rightful homeland.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The United Nations, in Article 11, gives refugees the Right of Return- to return to their homeland. However, many Zionists and their supporters fail to acknowledge this. The full article reads as follows:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
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<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Article 11 reads:</span></span></div><dl style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><dd style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 2em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.</i></span></span></dd></dl></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">Wouldn't it be much simpler for Zionists to just pack up and go back home to Europe? After all, many of these Zionists who claim to be Jewish, actually aren't. Their ancestry can be traced back to Europe rather than from the Holy Land or any surrounding countries. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">It is interesting to note that a few weeks back, an article noted that many Israelis hold a second passport. You know... just in case of another intifada, or <i>uprising</i>, they can just pack up and go back home. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">It's a win-win for everyone if Zionists can go back home to Europe. Europe's population will increase and Palestinians, millions who have been barred from going back home for more than 63 years, can finally return.</span></span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-74320935308944356962011-05-29T22:19:00.000-04:002011-05-29T22:19:33.066-04:00Walk of Shame<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWIapjVcIR7yWqJ56c_vmI9B9UEPlDomIHCFghRyUtJvnmlX__0knndthoKJiWb2fmMXShxx-iZC4JXbpYVTqyHpgAeld4UdNyMaDHQwqncusKGKznYpSqv3QgDvRuOBBdMAJXppN_y0h/s1600/Walk+with+Shame+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWIapjVcIR7yWqJ56c_vmI9B9UEPlDomIHCFghRyUtJvnmlX__0knndthoKJiWb2fmMXShxx-iZC4JXbpYVTqyHpgAeld4UdNyMaDHQwqncusKGKznYpSqv3QgDvRuOBBdMAJXppN_y0h/s1600/Walk+with+Shame+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div>This post is inspired by something I saw on the 6 o'clock news today. The Annual "Walk with Israel" took place in Toronto today. According to the Toronto Sun, "thousands turned out for the 44th United Jewish Appeal for Greater Toronto's Walk for Israel" (Read more here: http://bit.ly/iJ22hE).</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My question is: Don't these people know that Israel receives $3 billion per year from the US? It doesn't need any more financial support, let alone support of any kind! Maybe they do know, maybe they don't. If they do, then they are blinded by Israel's lies any time it opens its mouth. Lies about the occupation, lies about the illegal settlements, lies about the illegal siege on Gaza, lies about the attacks on the flotilla, lies about wanting to establish peace with the Palestinians, lies about wanting to be a partner for peace and security. All lies.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If anyone has watched the speech Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made at AIPAC 2011, he made it perfectly clear that any talks for peace will not be made based on 1967 lines. Not only that, but according to him, Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Oh, but that's not all. Any future Palestinian state must be "de-militarized". That's being hypocritical much. You know, since considering that Israel receives more than $1 billion per year in military aid alone.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Netanyahu isn't giving Palestinians much to work with here. How can anyone expect Palestinians to negotiate with a madman who demands to set out all the rules? Not gonna happen. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But anyway, back to the Walk with Israel. I'm probably lumping all these people together but I don't care: Anyone who supports Israel blindly supports its policies of genocide against Palestinians, supports its illegal acts against international law & supports its attacks against humanity at large. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These supporters in Toronto have sadly been blinded by Israel's many lies. Maybe if they see Israeli soldiers in action they would change their mind? Maybe. Maybe not.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or... maybe if these Israeli supporters lived 1 day in the shoes of Palestinians who live in the West Bank or Gaza, they would change their outlook in a heartbeat. Until then... they will continually be proud to partake in the "Walk of Shame" aka "Walk with Israel." </span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-58779677271595751772011-05-22T22:09:00.000-04:002011-05-22T22:09:27.131-04:00From Childhood to The Real World<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Life is a long series of discrete events, all leading to one all-important discovery.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Childhood was the time of innocence. At that age, concerns were limited to not being allowed to play after dark, not getting what you wanted at the mall or being forced to sleep early by your parents. I experienced all three. That time seemed so long ago </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Georgia; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Georgia; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Georgia; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Georgia; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">“What do you want to be when you grow up” was one frequent question I heard when I was in elementary school. The answers varied from 1 child to the next. “I want to be a doctor” “I want to be a fireman!” & “I want to be a teacher.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">To be honest, I never really knew what to answer. “Teacher” “Nurse” “Social Worker”… ironically, my choice of career now is the last one. But I never really liked that question because thinking of it now “what kind of question is that to ask a child about?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Next came the teenage years- every parent’s worst nightmare—although they’ll never admit to it. Each individual begins a process of self exploration. Peer pressure is so very common during this time & more often than not people go with the crowd. Some people though choose to stand out & be themselves rather than being one of the herd. Maybe or maybe not, they faced ridicule for being “weird”, “strange” or a “freak”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Navigating the hallways of middle school & high school teaches you something: Have a goal, make a plan & then execute it to achieve desired goal. There will be hurdles and you have to be prepared to overcome them because achieving your goal is the most important thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Something that teachers and guidance counselors don’t tell you, or at least not bluntly, is that life can be harsh to good people & be good to undeserving people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">During this stage, sometimes people will get in your way of achieving your aspirations and goals. For whatever reason they justify for doing hat, do not let it deter you. Some people get a kick for pulling people down with them. With these types of people, it’s best to ignore them. Be better than them, raise your head high & keep moving forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Now fast forward a few years—graduating high school & then graduating university or college. “The Real World.” The Real World can either be a huge slap in the face, if you’re not prepared, or it can be what you’ve waited to experience for so long.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Real World always has twists and turns, detours and U-turns. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">With so many responsibilities: working to pay bills-rent, utilities, mortgage, cable, TV, phone, cell and so forth. It’s easy to get stressed out. It’s easy to burn out. It’s easy to want to go back in time & rewind to the care-free days. And it’s easy to become overwhelmed by your problems. It’s easy to become distant from others. Never mind your close neighbours, but from people around the globe. And this fits perfectly into the plan of various groups, who shall remain nameless for now, who want individuals to remain individualistic with no room or thought for a people’s movement—A People’s Movement for justice, for peace, for human rights & lastly, freedom for illegally occupied nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">What was once a dream is now becoming a reality<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-294907391431814202011-05-20T21:10:00.001-04:002011-05-20T22:34:00.849-04:00Israel & India: Partners in Occupation<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The secret relationship between Israel and India is rarely discussed. But here on this blog, no secret will remain buried. It's time to unravel this sinister relationship between these two terror states that inflict pain and suffering on Palestinians and Kashmiris, respectively.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJkyd6VsUQblhGRmqbvH5O9-fXdR-ZLjdsJPhEHdFm86RNjx0WHAeuIGJ1CKeKJykWN6e_tsC4jJYQxA_gaFEseYQr_poZpEwQC_zr5rTOoEO3T7h33S-RraH17XBM2VBB5AK_vqlXcYr/s1600/india-israel-flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJkyd6VsUQblhGRmqbvH5O9-fXdR-ZLjdsJPhEHdFm86RNjx0WHAeuIGJ1CKeKJykWN6e_tsC4jJYQxA_gaFEseYQr_poZpEwQC_zr5rTOoEO3T7h33S-RraH17XBM2VBB5AK_vqlXcYr/s1600/india-israel-flag.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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Only 2 years after Israel declared its independence, 2 years after the Nakba, <b>India recognized Israel as a sovereign state.</b> It was years later, much later, that India first established a relationship with Israel in 1992. India only waited so long to recognize Israel because, at first, it was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Considering that India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which was supportive of anti-colonial struggles around the world, it only made sense that India also recognized and supported the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). So this begs the question: if India is so sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, why did it establish a strong relationship with Israel? <br />
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India had an ulterior movement for initially being pro-Palestine and anti-Israel. India had its own worry of Pakistan’s influence in the Arab world, in addition to safeguarding its oil supplies from Arab countries. It also ensured jobs for thousands of Indians in the Gulf, helping India to keep its foreign exchange reserves afloat. India and Israel however were on opposite sides during the Cold War, with Israel supporting the US and India sympathizing with the Soviet Union. <br />
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The Congress Party in India, which was the dominant force in Indian politics since India’s independence in 1947, opposed Israel because it viewed it as being similar to Pakistan—a state based on religion. This hampered growth of Indo-Israeli ties in the immediate aftermath of India’s independence. <br />
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Regardless of that, there was a close relationship between Israel’s Mossad and India’s intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). Israel never hesitated to come to India’s defense, publicly and strongly, in most of India’s major conflicts. <br />
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Here comes a shocker:<b> former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a visit to India in September 2003</b>. This step showed that the relationship between the two states became stronger. Their relationship was mainly driven by the threats of terrorism that both countries felt threatened their sovereignty. After the 9/11 attacks, both nations realized the importance of co-operating on a larger scale to counter terrorism. <br />
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Both countries face have a large Muslim population that both countries consider a threat. Calls for the liberation of Palestine and Kashmir within their states have pushed both countries closer to one another. <br />
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The declaration signed during Sharon’s visit to India condemned individuals and states that aid terrorism across borders and give refuge to terrorists. India views Israel as a source for providing training to its personnel in the fight against terrorism and Israel is more than willing to offer India both material and moral support in this regard. [1] <br />
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<b>In 2009, Israel became India’s biggest defense supplier. </b><br />
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In a deal completed in 2009, Delhi had signed a US$1.4 billion deal with Israel to purchase a 70 kilometer shore-based and sea borne anti-missile air defense system. According to an official, the total value of the deal was over $2 billion, with one portion valued at $600 million being hived off to the state-controlled Defense Research and Development Organization. This deal pushed Israel to be India’s biggest defense supplier ahead of Russia. [2]<br />
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Even more recently, February 21, 2011, it was reported that The Indian Air Force and the Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are set to sign a major contract in March 2011. [3]<br />
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<i><b>What else will these two countries exchange next.. Torture tactics? Occupation 101? </b></i><br />
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Both India and Israel face criticisms in their occupations of Kashmir and Palestine. Both countries also see the resistance from Kashmiris and Palestinians as being “illegitimate” & the tools of a foreign aggressor (Pakistan for Kashmir and Iran or Syria for Palestine). Not only that, but both countries also have <b>widespread abuses of human rights</b>, and the Israeli public's general apathy about or hostility towards Palestinian self-determination is surpassed by the domestic discussion in India, where Kashmiri self-determination isn't even an issue, though pacifying Kashmir and securing the border with Pakistan is. [4] </span><br />
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</div><div><b><i>FREE PALESTINE FREE KASHMIR FREE PALESTINE FREE KASHMIR</i></b><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more information on Israel-India's increasing relationship, watch this video:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://bit.ly/ijwOnz</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a more in-depth analysis of India & Israel's relationship in Occupation, read the link below:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://bit.ly/914Bse</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Footnotes:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[1] http://bit.ly/kOcxZE</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[2] http://bit.ly/lQps5m </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[3] http://bit.ly/gixsV6 </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[4] http://bit.ly/9AHdjT<br />
</span></div></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-79413154351097761732011-05-18T20:58:00.000-04:002011-05-18T20:58:21.248-04:00Kashmir: Most militarized zone in the world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqQc6wIXcS7TdtBavD7VoROicM0fIHzjo_5rRFB03q75Gl_SDCuy_34ycCZOBqUvoIW1Auv0z-C3Wjqn1MyYp30KlpNFeERELjz6G8tGuGQIEBDBDIevcY0UZhvDVr7F2vYidEreH88sH/s1600/Kashmir-+we+want+freedom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqQc6wIXcS7TdtBavD7VoROicM0fIHzjo_5rRFB03q75Gl_SDCuy_34ycCZOBqUvoIW1Auv0z-C3Wjqn1MyYp30KlpNFeERELjz6G8tGuGQIEBDBDIevcY0UZhvDVr7F2vYidEreH88sH/s320/Kashmir-+we+want+freedom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Srinagar, May 18 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani has said that Kashmir is the most militarized zone in the world and nothing is secure in the presence of forces in the occupied territory.<br />
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Syed Ali Gilani during his meeting with prominent social activist of India, Swami Agnivesh at his residence in Srinagar said, “killers of 118 youth in last year’s mass uprising are roaming free and even they were rewarded with promotions and awards. But youth who participated in peaceful protests are still languishing in jails.” he pointed out that Indian paramilitary forces and police were not in favour of peace as they were taking advantage of this uncertainty. “The forces are getting different allowances and looting green gold, while police is extorting money,” he added.<br />
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The veteran Hurriyet leader deplored that New Delhi was victimising the Kashmiris for raising voice for right to self-determination.<br />
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Indian Social activist, Swami Agnivesh who was in Srinagar to attend a conference also supported repeal of black law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and bringing to book the killers of 118 people martyred in 2010 in the occupied territory.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Source: http://bit.ly/m7IiGw</span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-58051282779010656662011-05-16T12:05:00.001-04:002011-05-16T12:15:24.105-04:00Another Day, Another StruggleIt was 2AM in this morning. As I tried to fall asleep, the attempt failed. I had too many thoughts whirling around in my head so I grabbed a pen and paper and started to write....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlj-OTVyb5tYQZ7LdXD8M44fuVd9JK5wqLsm-G3m7okY9POVLBFxl5Bcscvkq4Tam1YJX4DVV-BBNm79PJudjZH1Tm5YDZYc6n4GOiDRpcaxzUCf_7yDXbwJjBMNDNXa3sI12m6CD13U8/s1600/Key+nakba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlj-OTVyb5tYQZ7LdXD8M44fuVd9JK5wqLsm-G3m7okY9POVLBFxl5Bcscvkq4Tam1YJX4DVV-BBNm79PJudjZH1Tm5YDZYc6n4GOiDRpcaxzUCf_7yDXbwJjBMNDNXa3sI12m6CD13U8/s1600/Key+nakba.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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63 years. 63 years of longing. 63 years since you've been uprooted from your homeland, 63 years... and still waiting to go back home.<br />
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"Israel" claims it came to a land without a people for a people without a land. Palestinians though have been living in their homeland years before 1948. Plenty of photographs and videos prove this. But those aren't needed when all the proof you need is to see the hundreds of thousands Palestinian refugees who still hold on to the keys to their homes.<br />
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"Israel" claims that the land known as Palestine is their God-given land. I say that God would condemn any action that expels hundreds of thousands from their homes without just case.<br />
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And not only that, but thousands- hundreds of thousands- being killed just because they happen to be Palestinian.<br />
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How does someone try to justify expelling so many people, killing so many people & oppressing so many people? Simple: "God gave me this land."<br />
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All someone has to do is open & read any religious book, whether its the Torah, Psalms, Bible or Qur'an and that argument can be refuted it.<br />
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<b><i>It is not the land that makes anyone holy, but one's deeds.- Salman al-Farsi</i></b><br />
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There needs to be better enforcement of International Law. The UN needs to be made more effective and a few rules need to be changed. First of all, no country can be given veto power status. Everything the UN claims it stands for becomes useless if one country is given much more power than all the rest.<br />
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"Israel" cannot be shown any more favouritism. The US must stop given "Israel" $3 billion/year in aid- more than that of the whole continent of Africa.<br />
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"Israel" must stop feeding the world lies of Iran's nuclear enrichment- especially considering that its own nuclear has never been inspected by world bodies. The pot should stop calling the kettle black<br />
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"Israel" must stop repeating the same old-broken record of "we have the right to defend ourself". If it has the right to defend itself- and receiving $3B/year in aid to build checkpoints, walls, fences & an Iron Dome to fend off Hamas "home-made bombs/rockets"- then shouldn't Palestinians- who have been terrorized, oppressed, placed under a blockade & stripped of basic fundamental human rights- have the right to do the same?<br />
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"Israel" must stop attacking AID SHIPS on International waters & then later claiming that the aid activists are terrorists.<br />
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More importantly, world leaders must stop being so blind to the tryst and injustice of the Palestinians. 63 years is far too long. Silence is synonymous with betrayal and indifference to injustice.<br />
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Nakba- 63 years and still on going. The world must not let it go on for 64.<br />
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Never Forgive, Never Forget </3Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-74163800756944349812011-05-08T19:01:00.000-04:002011-05-08T19:01:05.363-04:00Save Hasna Ali<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_US0Ulu6fhyphenhyphenoeLaeG0aPFPvd1Pl73oLWYhcaa6bhOwcmOROyzk_r0muiEHs5Ijkj3oc-ly2qToIlnkCi6MfDwhJJ7UYNjuOe_sMrJq386z7GcBBEHsNzolR_oyGIgWiN3eTiNhULioViG/s1600/Save+Hasna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_US0Ulu6fhyphenhyphenoeLaeG0aPFPvd1Pl73oLWYhcaa6bhOwcmOROyzk_r0muiEHs5Ijkj3oc-ly2qToIlnkCi6MfDwhJJ7UYNjuOe_sMrJq386z7GcBBEHsNzolR_oyGIgWiN3eTiNhULioViG/s320/Save+Hasna.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hasna Ali- a Yemeni mother of 3- will be hanged on May 10th, 2011 by the Iraqi government. One would assume that for someone to be given such a harsh punishment, they would have had to commit a horrendous crime. That is not the case here. Her guilt, according to the Iraqi military, is that she is the wife of a late Yemeni Mujahid (an Islamic freedom fighter) who was killed in combat after be involved in acts of resistance against American soldiers </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">in 2007. How is this a justified punishment?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Her 3 children, Ayoub, 11, Maryam, 6, and Hamza, 3, will be orphaned if their mother is hanged.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Save Hasna from the Death Penalty</b>: http://on.fb.me/l6W7ln <b>(Contains more info about her biography and strife)</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Please sign the petition:</b> http://bit.ly/l7ZYIw</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Please spread this to all your friends & contacts. Contact the Iraqi embassy in your country. Do whatever you can to speak out against this great injustice.</span></div>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-27890766603706961062011-05-02T14:19:00.000-04:002011-05-02T14:19:08.244-04:00The Forgotten Holocausts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today's date, Monday, May 2nd, 2011, marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Hebrew: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><em>Yom Hashoah </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><i>Ve-Hagevurah. </i>It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(April 19-May 19, 1943). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Holocaust took place from 1933 when Hitler came to power until 1945 when the Allied Forces defeated Hitler and the Nazis. Between this time frame, it is believed that more than 6 million Jews have been killed. According to many, the Holocaust is the worst human genocide to have ever taken place.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">The killing of a single human life is a deplorable act, regardless of race, gender, religion or on any other basis.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">There have been many more Holocausts that many people are unaware of: Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, Palestine, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Iraq, Afghanistan and plenty of others.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">If the world remembers one Holocaust, in exclusion to all others, then what has humanity learned about the sanctity of human life? The life of one Jew is not, and should not be, considered superior over a non-Jew. If the world remembers the Jewish Holocaust, then it cannot be blind to the many other Holocausts that have occurred.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">The Holocaust should not be used as justification to label any individual who speaks out against Israeli Occupation as an Anti-Semit. Individuals who claim to be Jewish, of all people, should know and understand that using the injustice, harm & suffering experienced in WWII is not justification to do the same to the Palestinians. Rather, Jews should understand that the suffering of Palestinians is the same as their own and should speak out against the ethnic cleansing and the illegal occupation of Palestine.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPoepNNCyw8pFwSHnRFjp7y6_gEJjIxgBsJp2ElCkL_O60cK1Yd6sl-vaJSByWgPPMNgMHRVJ3MgctyVH5BzbffK8Q-wXorz2E9KxPWj2vsrTpz_YEU6SUz-HX5HW026fHhQv1Ylt9VUZ/s1600/INJUSTICE2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPoepNNCyw8pFwSHnRFjp7y6_gEJjIxgBsJp2ElCkL_O60cK1Yd6sl-vaJSByWgPPMNgMHRVJ3MgctyVH5BzbffK8Q-wXorz2E9KxPWj2vsrTpz_YEU6SUz-HX5HW026fHhQv1Ylt9VUZ/s1600/INJUSTICE2.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>"Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shall not be a bystander"</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Holocaust Museum</span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-16701931658145305762011-04-30T19:10:00.000-04:002011-04-30T19:10:14.679-04:00It's still Good to do Good<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0xF54pXKePjkimlQ8OhZ64KkWr7I4MiPcV3H40i-Bztf_4AgUmcaARrmbcH5I3kR_mhc4t1l7uGSJJAbCuO1_d-d7I5WbXek4_qrl2weQYJT-CRTj3CL3UZgVeGJeiMedsZ9aJQZ5qRo/s1600/Do+Good.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0xF54pXKePjkimlQ8OhZ64KkWr7I4MiPcV3H40i-Bztf_4AgUmcaARrmbcH5I3kR_mhc4t1l7uGSJJAbCuO1_d-d7I5WbXek4_qrl2weQYJT-CRTj3CL3UZgVeGJeiMedsZ9aJQZ5qRo/s1600/Do+Good.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Sometimes people's acts of goodness and kindness towards others goes unappreciated. Sometimes people turn bitter when they encounter rejection and pain when their favours go unreturned. But who is to say that people will ever appreciate certain acts of goodness? Maybe some people are just like that--ungrateful for favours done unto them.<br />
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And then are other types of people who understand that doing the right thing may cause some individuals to hate them for it. But yet, they still do it. Is there any inherent incentive for doing good or do individuals do good just for the sake of doing good?<br />
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Whatever the answer philosophy or psychology or sociology may have, just know that: doing good for others may in return, allow others to do good towards you and maybe... just maybe the world wouldn't be so messed up like it is today.Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212922446078665460.post-78679490617829191092011-04-13T21:17:00.000-04:002011-04-13T21:20:07.434-04:00Repeating History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>As the saying goes: <i><b>Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it </b></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-rIuvF8G2IsFTAe74iHd7movEs5C608d8HpA6c_Yc3-iyA8B4PJbAzW13tgndlc3dLbU9qDROj3q2IQgmZE6u0ZsdYkT_oy72K3Pj27_7JJ25QjTOHp_Vz0jygXv5iRnAt3O2DdAKJPM/s1600/Repeating+History.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-rIuvF8G2IsFTAe74iHd7movEs5C608d8HpA6c_Yc3-iyA8B4PJbAzW13tgndlc3dLbU9qDROj3q2IQgmZE6u0ZsdYkT_oy72K3Pj27_7JJ25QjTOHp_Vz0jygXv5iRnAt3O2DdAKJPM/s1600/Repeating+History.jpg" /></a></div>This couldn't have been more truer in the context of genocide, war, apartheid and occupation. There have been plenty of the above since the end of World War II. With the end of World War II, the world, or rather, world leaders, have made a promise of <i style="font-weight: bold;">never again.</i> I would like to ask these world leaders: why the blind eye and deaf ear to the world's atrocities today?<br />
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In today's political context, it has been proven again and again that the leaders do not represent the will and voice of the people. Corporate interests take precedence over people's interests. Tax cuts for big corporations take precedence over social spending on healthcare and education.<br />
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What the people need to do is mobilize ideas together and create change for a better future. A future without genocide, a future without war, a future without apartheid, a future without occupation<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">.</span>Rodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04583304620771816657noreply@blogger.com0