Category: World News & Politics

Read and spread this…

Amidst stark warnings of potential outbreak of chronic and deadly diseases, Israeli occupation troops have recently set up a “radioactive” glass room at the main Rafah crossing through which Palestinians have to pass to enter or exit the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medics said that potential diseases include thrombocytopenic, sterility, congenital anomalies, cancer, leukemia, mental retardation and ductless glands disorder, warning that Palestinians are slipping toward slow death.

“I was forced by Israeli occupation troops to enter this scary room-like radiating device, which consists of glass and barbed wire,” Mohammad Al-Sadoudi, 40, says.

Walid Al-Salhi, the director of preventive security at the Rafah crossing, said the room is made of lead-coated glass and is holding inside it a one-meter high cylinder-shaped device.

“Doctors warned that this device produces life-threatening, bone-piercing rays and Israeli troops can easily see the body parts of Palestinians, using the infra-red technology,” Salhi said.

[More: Islam Online, GCMHP]
[Via: The Black Iris]

Pope John Paul II died today, Saturday April 2nd, the Vatican announced. The 84-year-old Pontiff, who had headed the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died at 9:37 p.m.

Prayers are being said in St Peter’s square, where many thousands of people are gathered to pay tribute.

He was a great man who worked for peace and justice. His pro-active style underlined the fact that a pope is not just a spiritual leader – he is also a player on the world’s diplomatic stage.

One theme of his papacy was his attempt to reach out to other faiths, in search of reconciliation after centuries of hostility and suspicion.

He travelled to Islamic countries and became the first pope to set foot in a mosque. As a symbol of religious tolerance, it took on new meaning after the events of 11 September 2001.

The world has lost a great man today.
May God bless his soul.

Just a few months after the devastating earthquake and tsunamis that hit Asia, another earthquake with a magnitude of at least 8.2 on the richter scale was reported today off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the same fault line.

The quake occurred at 16:09 GMT, and is considered a “great” earthquake, the largest of seven grades.

Thai officials issued a warning of a possible tsunami.
A spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey also confirmed by telling CNN that the earthquake could cause tsunamis.

I hope they’re wrong and that no tsunamis result of this and no damage occurs to any of the countries in that region.
God protect them all.

Update 29/03/05: The earthquake was of a 8.7 Magnitude. Reports say that 300 people have died, while hundreds more are injured or trapped on islands near to the epicenter, including Indonesia’s Nias Island.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a local radio station as many as 2,000 could be dead from Monday’s quake, also felt in Malaysia, Singapore and as far north as Bangkok, Thailand.

[More: CNN]

Today marks the 40th day since Rafik Hariri‘s death, and for this occasion, a group of Lebanese youth are organizing a gathering in Martyr Square in Beirut tomorrow at 14:00 where cards will be distributed to over a thousand people in order to draw his portrait.

Meanwhile, demands are rising for the resignation of security officials in the government for failing to provide security, protection, law and order in Lebanon.

Furthermore, the UN fact-finding mission published a report yesterday that was sharply critical of Syria and its allied Lebanese government and said that they were responsible for the political tension that preceded the assasination.

The report said that the Beirut government showed a lack of commitment to finding out who killed al-Hariri, bungling and outright manipulating the investigation.

A petition has also been started on the For Lebanon site, demanding an international neutral investigation to uncover the truth.
The same petition will be available for signing tomorrow at Martyr Square.

God bless Lebanon, and God bless Rafik Hariri’s soul.
Our hearts and minds are with Lebanon and the Lebanese people, and we too all demand to know the truth!

Palestine won the prize for the saddest photo in the BBC “Sadness and Joy” photography contest.

The photo captured by the Palestinian TV producer Abdul-Rahman Al-Humran, shows three young girls weeping in sorrow for their brother, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the city of Rafah in Gaza, won the first place in the competition.

[Via: AquaCool, PalestineBlogs, Rafah Pundits, IMEMC]

“A window for you to look in, to see past the walls, barbed wire fences, and the media distortions; to hear from the people in Bethlehem themselves.”

Palestinians and internationals living in the Bethlehem region have started a weblog. They want to tell the world what it is like to be living in occupied territory, under an economic siege, encircled by a wall and military checkpoints…
Bethlehem Bloggers

Jewish extremists are plotting to bring as much people as possible to occupy Al Haram Al Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) which the Jews call the ‘Temple Mount’.

David Ha’ivri, chairman of the Revava organisation planning the 10 April march, is hoping the mass ascent of 10,000 Jews to the compound will pressure the Israeli government to transfer full control of the compound from Muslim to Jewish hands.

This is a very dangerous act and such an attack could spark more conflict and shatter the fragile truce that is in place now.

I think the Israeli government should take it’s responsabilities to stop such a thing from happening as part of it’s role in this ongoing peace effort.

[More: Al Jazeera, BBC]

Two days ago, members of the US Senate narrowly voted to support President Bush’s quick solution to the energy crisis, i.e. opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil drilling.

ANWR covers 7.7 million hectares and is home to 45 types of land and marine mammals, including polar bears, muskoxen and pygmy shrews, as well as 160 species of migratory birds.

Estimates of how much oil the refuge holds vary widely. By most accounts, the area would take 10 years to develop and still meet only a small fraction of U.S. energy needs. Even oil companies have reportedly become skeptical about the refuge’s potential.

Its a shame to see how oil is destroying our planet.
Wars, destruction, extinction and the list goes on.
This has to stop!
We have to find a way to stop depending on oil and ruining the planet in the way.
Instead of spending all this money on wars and drilling all over the world, more should be invested in finding alternative clean energy sources.

Nothing surprises me anymore…

[Via: Pourquoi Pas?, Je Blog]

After yesterday’s demonstrations by Kuwaiti women demanding equal voting rights, also called by some “The Blue Revolution” because of the blue “Women’s Rights Now” posters they were carrying, Kuwait’s Cabinet is speeding up a parliamentary debate on an amendment it proposed to the state’s election law, which aims to give women the right to vote and stand as political candidates.

Debate on women being able to vote here gained momentum last month after the prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, wrote in a rare newspaper column that it was “high time women get this right and practice it” because they were just as educated as other women in Arab and Muslim countries.

On the other hand, Kuwait’s hardline Islamists embarked on an anti-women rights campaign under the slogan that “based on Islamic Sharia law, women have no political rights”, which is wrong, as Islam never denied women these rights.

I think it’s about time Kuwait and all other Arab countries start giving women their full rights.
These countries can’t go on ignoring half the population. They have the right to be heard, to vote, to run for public office, to play a bigger role in their country.

Being from Tunisia, where it’s about time we men start fighting for Men’s Rights because of all the rights women have that we don’t, lol, I can truly feel the difference between a country where women are equals to men and are as much a driving force for the country as their male counterparts, and a country that doesn’t give them that chance.