One wise man once said:
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
In light of the injustices committed by the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, concerned members of the advertising and media community in Jordan have produced a media campaign (Palestine. Dying to Live.) to mobilize public opinion, to open the world
Hassan, Irish-born and with dual British and Iraqi nationality, was seized by gunmen on her way to work in western Baghdad early in the morning.
She headed CARE International’s operations in Iraq and had lived with her husband in the country for 30 years.
Hassan’s family in London said they believed she was the victim in the video, and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said analysis of the video showed Hassan has “probably been murdered”.
Hassan’s husband, Tahseen Ali Hassan, said he had heard of the video but did not know whether it was authentic.
This is just so wrong!
This has nothing to do with resistance.
This woman was a peaceful woman working in an aid organization trying to help the people of Iraq. In other words, she’s on the Iraqi side. Nothing justifies kidnapping and killing her.
These actions are stupid, barbaric and unacceptable. They must stop!
An American TV crew, correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC television has filmed a US Marine shooting dead an unarmed Iraqi as he was lying on the floor of a Fallujah mosque.
A reporter at the scene said the marine shot ibn the head the Iraqi – apparently wounded – after saying he was
Apparently a lot of Americans frustrated with Bush’s re-election are starting to think that the grass is greener north of the border, Canada.
The Canadian immigration Web site had 115,000 hits the day after the election — from the U.S. alone. Usually, they only get 20,000 hits.
There was so much interest that a Vancouver-based Internet company, Communicopia, set up a new Web site this month — www.canadianalternative.com — to suggest Canada as a viable option for its American clients, including anyone concerned about constitutional bans on gay marriage passed in 11 U.S. states this month.
Another Web site urges Canadians: “Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American. Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism.”
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes.
Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
[Details: Rense]
Now, doesn’t that remind you of a certain regime a certain Mr. Bush is leading?
Mikhail Gorbachev presented Yusuf Islam with the “Man for Peace” award at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
The former Soviet leader kissed the singer on the cheeks and praised him for standing by his convictions despite personal hardships.
[…]
The British musician was expelled from the United States in September after authorities diverted his London-to-Washington flight to Maine to remove him, saying he was suspected of ties to terrorism.
[…]
The musician is the founder of Small Kindness, a charity to raise money for children and families suffering from poverty and war in the Balkans and Middle East.
He has also donated money to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to the fight against AIDS in South Africa.
Source: CNN
How extremely ironic.
The thought that this man of peace was not allowed to enter the US because of suspicions that he has ties to terrorism is just so ridiculously stupid.
Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Authority President and leader who fought for his people’s cause for decades has died in a French hospital after a lingering illness. He was 75.
Secretary-general of the Palestinian presidency, Tayib Abd al-Rahim, confirmed the death.
His body will be flown to Cairo for a ceremony on Friday and then to the West Bank city of Ramallah for burial the same day.
The speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Rawhi Fattuh, will be sworn in as Palestinian Authority president on an interim basis until elections are held after 60 days.
Yasser Arafat was a great leader, a symbol for resistance and will power, a man of principle, a man who lived and died for a great cause and a man of peace.
It’s so sad to see such a good man pass away.
Today, like everyday, we are all Palestinians, and we all mourn this man we have grown to respect and look up to throughout the years.
May you rest in peace Yasser Arafat.
Anyone who thought Bush’s second term would mean a moderation of the neoconservative agenda of perpetual war was bound to be bitterly disappointed
The plane, carrying 118 passengers and five crew members, had already pulled away from the gate at Mitchell International Airport on Sunday evening. It returned to the gate, the passengers got off, security authorities were notified, all luggage was checked and the aircraft was inspected. Nothing was found.
The passengers were put up in nearby hotels and booked on a Monday morning flight.
The writing was in Farsi, the language used in Iran, said airline spokeswoman Carol Skornycka. She said she didn’t know exactly what the writing said but was similar to a prayer, “something of a contemplative nature.”
So now not only do they start a problem because they don’t like how someone looks, but they’re ready to turn around a plane just because someone scribbled on an inflight magazine in a language that looks like Arabic?!
I think this is really stupid!
I truly can’t believe it’s gone this far!
[Source: USA Today]
[Via: Mental Mayhem]
There is a lot of speculation about Yasser Arafat’s condition going on these days.
The rumours and reports have been spilling out that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is clinically dead and that he’s being kept alive by machines.
Two U.S. officials are confirming these reports and saying that French, Israeli and Egyptian officials are already negotiating with Arafat’s family and aides over where he should be buried.
But the Palestinian administration and sources at the French military hospital deny these reports and say that his medical state is “complex” but reversible.
So, even in this world of media and news overload, the truth isn’t always obvious and out there.
Anyway, we’ve seen this same scenario a number of times in the past with King Hussein of Jordan and recently Sheikh Zayed of UAE, and that leads me to believe that the reports that Arafat is clinically dead are true and that it’s just a matter of time before they pull the plug and announce his death officially.
How long before they do it?
Well first they have to negotiate where he’ll be buried. He and his family have always wanted him to be buried in Jerusalem but Israel is fully against that. So a solution that is honorable to a leader of his caliber has to be found.
The Palestinian leadership will also have to organize themselves and coordinate with all Palestinian factions so that a successor to Arafat is chosen and the power transfer is flawless so that they don’t fall into a power void and maybe even some sort of civil war.
It’s a critical time for the Palestinian people and leadership, the loss of their leader and uniting figure, the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
All precautions have to be taken so that things go on smoothly.
