Monday, June 30, 2008

 

Chava Koster, the new rabbi of Sweden, is a girl, by Anne Humphreys



The Jewish community of Sweden provides a good mood on this day of the St-Jean - pagane old festival of the summer solstice. For the first time a woman - Chava Koster - was elected Rabbi of Stockholm. She was facing competition from 12 men. Is not it wonderful to read the words of spokesman for the Selection Committee:






"We did not at all chosen on the basis of sex. After maintenance, she has emerged as the best among all candidates"

To read the article in Libération click here.

This is the true concept of feminism and liberation of women. The competence. What to say? A contrast with Benedict XVI and his old speeches sclérosés the Pope John Paul II ...

Chava Koster, Rabbi in New York. She was recently appointed Rabbi Sweden.

Someting what makes furious the Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh of this world.

Link

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

 

African Union: Use Summit to Press Senegal on Hissène Habré Trial, by Francis Chartrand


Two Years After AU Mandate, No Action on Former Chad Dictator

Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP)

Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH)

African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO)

Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH)

National Organisation for Human Rights (ONDH)

Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l’Homme

International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)

Human Rights Watch

(Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, June 23, 2008) – During its upcoming summit, the African Union should ask Senegal to explain why little progress has been made in the two years since it mandated Senegal to prosecute former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, eight human rights organizations said today. The African Union is holding its bi-annual summit here on June 30 and July 1.

Habré is accused of massive crimes during his 1982-1990 rule before he fled to Senegal in 1990. On July 2, 2006, the African Union mandated Senegal to “prosecute and ensure that Hissène Habré is tried, on behalf of Africa, by a competent Senegalese court.” Senegal has yet to initiate a prosecution, however.

The African Union should ask Senegal for a road map for the investigation and trial of Habré, said a joint statement by the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP), the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), the Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH), the National Organisation for Human Rights (ONDH) Human Rights Watch, Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l’Homme, and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).

“Senegal has perfected the art of delay in this case. The African Union’s credibility is at stake,” said Alioune Tine of the Dakar-based African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO). “This is a test case for African justice. Africa can’t complain that international justice is picking on African leaders while it allows the Habré case to die a slow death in Senegal.”

In January 2008, at Senegal’s request, European Union experts visited Senegal to evaluate its financial and technical needs. The experts called on Senegal to define a prosecution strategy and set forth a precise calendar and a reasonable budget, none of which has been done. They also suggested that a Senegalese coordinator be named to handle the administrative and financial aspects of the case.

In April, the former coordinator of Habré’s legal team, Madické Niang, was named minister of justice of Senegal – a key position for the organization of the trial. In May, he announced the appointment of a coordinator for the trial as well as a “Follow-up and Communication Committee.” He also stated that a constitutional amendment would soon be adopted making clear that Senegalese courts may prosecute acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes perpetrated in the past. He also said judges would be named to investigate the case by June 7, but neither of these pledges has happened.

“The victims are tired of Senegal’s promises, it is time for the case to get moving,” said Souleymane Guengueng, founder of the Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP), who almost died during two years of mistreatment in Chadian Habré’s prisons. “The African Union needs to step in.”

The AU decision mandating Senegal to try Habré envisaged “provid[ing] Senegal with the necessary assistance for the effective conduct of the trial,” but it took 16 months for the African Union to name Robert Dossou, Benin’s former foreign minister and justice minister, as an envoy to the trial. His role is unclear, however, and the groups asked the African Union to define his mandate and to provide concrete assistance to Senegal.

“The African Union needs to ensure that its decision to try Hissène Habré is put into practice,” said Dobian Assingar, a Chadian activist with the FIDH.

In its May 2006 ruling in the case Guengueng v. Senegal, (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/aafdd8e81a424894c125718c004490f6?Opendocument), the UN Committee against Torture found that Senegal had violated the Convention against Torture twice, first by failing to prosecute Habré when the victims first filed their case in 2000, and then by failing to prosecute or extradite him when Belgium filed an extradition request in September 2005. The committee ruled that Senegal was obliged to prosecute or extradite Habré.

Background

Hissène Habré ruled Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990 by President Idriss Déby Itno and fled to Senegal. His one-party regime was marked by widespread atrocities, including waves of ethnic campaigns. Files of Habré’s political police, the DDS (Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité), which were discovered by Human Rights Watch in 2001, (http://www.hrw.org/justice/habre/habre-police.htm) reveal the names of 1,208 persons who were killed or died in detention. A total of 12,321 victims of human rights violations were mentioned in the files.

Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000 before courts ruled that he could not be tried there. His victims then turned to Belgium and, after a four-year investigation, a Belgian judge in September 2005 charged Habré with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture.

Following a Belgian extradition request, Senegalese authorities arrested Habré in November 2005. The Senegalese government then asked the African Union to recommend how to try Habré. On July 2, 2006, the African Union, following the recommendation of a Committee of Eminent African Jurists, called on Senegal to prosecute Habré “in the name of Africa,” and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade declared that Dakar would do so.

To view an April 2008 letter to the international and African communities from the International Committee for the Fair Trial of Hissène Habré, please visit: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/29/africa18666.htm

For additional background on the case against Hissène Habré, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/justice/habre/

Link

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Olbermann June 27















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Friday, June 27, 2008

 

Tribute to George Carlin



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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

 

Mount Elgon, Kenya: A Terrorised Population in Desperate Need of Assistance, by Noémie Cournoyer



The international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for an immediate increase in assistance for the people of Mount Elgon in western Kenya, and an end to the indiscriminate violence they have been enduring for almost two years.



Since August 2006, the civilian population of Mount Elgon has been trapped in the violent conflict between the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) militia, which took up arms over a land allocation scheme it considers unfair, and the Kenyan authorities. Tens of thousands have been displaced. Many have lived through atrocities, mutilation, and loss.



Today the people of Mount Elgon are still struggling to cope. They live in an environment of insecurity, and lack access to basic services, clothing, sufficient food, shelter and blankets. Many are exposed to the cold nights of the highlands, and depend on help from other local communities to survive.




Photo: Simon Burroughs, MSF-Belgium The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for an immediate increase in assistance for the people of Mount Elgon in western Kenya, and an end to the indiscriminate violence they have been enduring for almost two years.

MSF has been providing medical and humanitarian relief to people living in the Mount Elgon district since April 2007. During this time, the organization has repeatedly drawn attention to the violent crisis. Faced with a population that is traumatized by years of violence and struggling with unfulfilled humanitarian needs, MSF feels compelled to speak out. "Medical aid alone cannot answer the numerous needs of the people in Mount Elgon," says MSF head of mission Rémi Carrier. "They require protection from violence, increased assistance, and for more attention to be paid to their plight."

The authorities’ main response to the unrest has been to meet violence with violence, culminating in a joint police-military operation launched on March 9, 2008. During this operation the conflict intensified, and civilians endured attacks, torture and degrading treatment.

"Since the beginning of our activities, our medical teams in Mount Elgon have seen and treated victims of violent trauma, especially from last summer onwards. But it really peaked after the launch of the operation, with more than 250 injured people treated in the month that followed," explains Carrier. "These victims, mostly adult men, had been injured while being screened for alleged involvement in the militia. For civilians already traumatised, repeatedly displaced and radically impoverished for almost two years now, this has only reinforced their trauma."

Meanwhile, people continue to fear violence from the SLDF militia, too. One woman who was attacked in mid-April and treated by MSF explains: "We have been attacked by four young men on the road. They beat us with pangas [machetes] and told us to lie down on the ground. One man died and I was unconscious. While they were beating us, they said: Tell them that the militia men are still alive."

Today, as some people return home, the coping mechanisms of the residents and the displaced are stretched to their limit. MSF is calling for an immediate increase in assistance and protection from violence for these people, in order to allow them to restart their lives. As long as violence is met with more violence, with no attempt to address the root causes of the conflict, the situation is unlikely to improve and the suffering will continue.

MSF is one of the few humanitarian organizations providing assistance to people affected by the conflict in Mount Elgon. Since April 2007 MSF has provided free medical care through support to primary healthcare facilities. and through mobile clinics in more remote areas. MSF has also established a hospital referral system for medical emergencies and distributed clothes and blankets.

More information on the crisis in Mount Elgon and stories from affected people can be found in an MSF report titled "Mount Elgon : Does anybody care?", from May 2008, on that link.

Link

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Francis Chartrand's statement on St-Jean Baptiste Day

In this week of Midsummer's Day, I wish you that our national Festival be one day of most memorable, and that it is filled of joy, love, pride, fraternity and solidarity towards our close relations.
Let us benefit from this weekend, sunny announces myself it, to share the richness, the glory and the beauty of our language, our culture and our Quebecer folklore, so that we can say ourselves: “Yes, we are proud to be Quebecer.”
All the members of my team of Rivière-des-Mille-Îles invite you to take part in the festivities of the Fête nationale, which it is of the Festival Arts en fête at Saint-Eustache, of a bonfire at Deux-Montagnes, or about a fireworks at Boisbriand or Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, in order to fraternize between Quebecers from here and besides.
Bonne Fête nationale,
Bonne Saint-Jean.
Francis Chartrand

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Friday, June 20, 2008

 

Goddamn racists, by Richard Martineau

Richard Martineau

Journal de Montréal

16/06/2008 09h47

A friend sent me an interesting link, the other day (cbc.ca/22minutes). This is the address of the site This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a show that humorous parody the news. The site allows you to watch old sketches.

If you look at the issue of 9 October 2007, you stumble across a skit entitled Quebec Nation.

YOUR TAXES AT WORK

The scene takes place in an independent Quebec. You see two guys and a girl in a field. They are poor and draw the devil by the tail, because "there is no more nor English Canadians for help."

"We are obliged to do everything alone, said one of two guys with a big emphasis Quebec. The kitchen, washing ... It is even obliged to subsidize our own culture! "

"When we left Canada, there was nothing out with us, deplores the girl. No city, no way. Not even a radio! The only thing that has washed away, it is our racism ... "Hilarious, no?

Remember that the show This Hour Has 22 Minutes is broadcast on CBC television that Canadian public finance you with your taxes.

The same TV cutting systematically provide Quebec artists during the broadcast of the gala Hall of Fame of Canadian songwriters.

Anyway, we must laugh, is not it? Otherwise Gérard Bouchard will say that we are cautious and fearful ...

WHITE FEET

Speaking of racism ... On 21 April, the newspaper The Gazette published a small announcement of a social nature.

It was an appeal to all to find out if a family of West Island could host a girl 13 years one weekend per month, history of letting his mother blow a little.

"The girl is very active, she keeps her room clean and complies with the regulations of the house, could be read. Ideally, the host family would be black ... "

Imagine how The Gazette would react if the Journal were to find a foster family WHITE for a girl. We would yell to racism!

But these are anglos who publish such adverts, then it's like butter in the pan ...

But these are anglos who publish such adverts, then it's like butter in the pan ...

SIMPLE AS HELLO

A few days ago, I told you there was a kosher connecting pipes of a dishwasher.

Well, it's even more complicated than what I thought. Bernard Thompson, Hérouxville, sent me a document written by Rabbi Dovid Bendory explaining how Orthodox Jews must be taken to "purify" a dishwasher ...

We must remove the traps the dishwasher. Carefully wash the filter drain. Leave the dishwasher unused for 24 hours. Make a wash vacuum at elevated temperature. Take two bricks and put them in an oven at 500 degrees for one hour. Installing pieces of wood in the dishwasher. When the bricks are hot, take them with aluminum foil and place them on pieces of wood. Make a wash for maximum temperature until the water boiled dishwasher. Leave the dishwasher to cool for one hour.

And tadam! You have a dishwasher kosher, which will allow your God to sleep on his two ears.

And now for the dryer ...

Link

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When the world will be Muslim, by Richard Martineau

Richard Martineau

Journal de Montréal

19/06/2008 05h40

You find that much talk of Allah, for some time? You have not seen anything yet.

According to Mark Steyn, Canadian columnist who publishes, among other texts in Maclean's, our grandchildren will be awaken by muezzins who convieront to prayer from the top of their mosque.

THE FIGURES SPEAKS

In America Alone, a book that caused much ink to flow, Steyn says that the rise of Islam in the world is an irreversible phenomenon that will change completely the face of the planet.

The figures are in favour of Muslims, he said. While the fertility rate of Western democracies is in free fall, that of Muslim countries is booming.

What are the countries with the highest fertility rates? Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen - five Islamic countries.

Which countries have the largest number of people below 15 years? Saudi Arabia (39% of the population is under 15 years), Pakistan (40%) and Yemen (47%). While the population of Europe and America ages sight of an eye, that of Muslim countries is strong, active and fruitful.

FREEDOM OF SPEACH IN DANGER

For Steyn, it could pose a problem for democracy. Si vous pensez qu'il ya beaucoup de demandes pour des accommodements raisonnables, écrit-il, attendez de voir ce qui se passera dans 20 ans. If you think there are a lot of requests for reasonable accommodations, he writes, wait and see what happens in 20 years.

According to the organization Freedom House, five of the eight countries which respect the least rights and freedoms are Muslims. And 46 Muslim countries on the planet, only three are democracies ...

As might be expected, Steyn's book has aroused the anger of several Muslim groups, who do not accept that we consider their religion as a threat.

By the way, when Maclean's has published an excerpt from America Alone, a few months ago, the Islamic Council of Canada has filed a complaint, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission has accused Steyn and Maclean's Islamophobia and Racism... without even taking the time to investigate and hear the views of the author and editor of the magazine!

The message of the Commission is clear: any criticism of Islam is a racist attack.

You want to criticize a religion? Attack the Catholic religion!

MEANWHILE ...

You find Steyn paranoid? Here is what was said by Colonel Gaddafi in April 2006 on Al-Jazeera:

"Everyone must become Muslim. There are 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will ensure the triumph of Islam in Europe - without swords weapons or military conquest. The 50 million Muslims will transform Europe into a Muslim continent within a few decades.

"Allah mobilizes the Muslim nation of Turkey. This will add another 50 million Muslims in Europe.

"The USA will have to agree to become Islamic and follow the course of history, or they will declare war on Muslims."

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, agrees with Gaddafi. "Europe will be an Islamic continent in a dozen years," he said recently. That's EXACTLY what Steyn writes.

Inch'Allah.

Link

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United Nations - Louise Arbour condemns FITNA and calls for appropriate legal measures, by Marie-Êve Marineau



The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour issued the following statement today:

"I join the condemnation expressed by the Secretary-General and the three UN Special Reporters, the tone and content of the film FITNA by Geert Wilders, and I urge all those who legitimately feel deeply offended by his provocative message simply to denounce her hateful content by peaceful means. "

"There is a protection framework within which the resolution of the controversy that this film will generate should take place."

"I also urge legislators of all countries to fulfil their responsibilities under Articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They should offer strong protection measures on all forms of freedom of expression, while adopting appropriate restrictions which are necessary to protect the rights of others. Similarly, they should prohibit any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence ".

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The Canadian Muslims opposed to Sharia are a minority and are hounded by Anne Humphreys



R. Spencer et les musulmans modérés
par Tazda



R. Spencer and moderate Muslims
by
Tazda

R. Spencer and moderate Muslims
sent by
Tazda
Here is the transcript of the video resulted in
Pistache l'insoumise. We also invite you to fly over the excellent blog Pistache.

The Islamic reformers are often targeted as qu'apostats (people who left Islam) by jihadists.

Farzana Hassan Shahid, the new president of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), is the latest victim of this phenomenon.

After his liberal views on many issues islamicly "hot" have begun to be known, she began to receive threats from Muslim supporters of strong-arm tactics, which saw its positions signs of his desertion of Islam. One of them called "the little sister of Satan", while another accosta her husband in a mosque in Ontario and demanded that he "control his wife."

Farzana Hassan Shahid explained itself, there is a latent fear all the time… this sense of unease is part of my daily life. I have been declared apostate twice, having opposed the Shariah (Islamic law).

Hassan Shahid is not the first representative of the MCC to be covered by the Jihadists. Until recently, Tarek Fatah was the communications director of MCC .. But in August he abruptly démissiona.

Fatah had long been a leading voice parte Muslims in Canada. And as communications director of the CMC, he never avoided controversy, adhering to certain views about the rights of homosexuals and other issues that deviate from Islamic orthodoxy. Opposing views that Hassan Shahid has now occasions.

Fatah had even opposed the campaign in 2005 to introduce the Canada room arbitration based on Sharia. But instead of receiving congratulations from the Canadian Muslim community, Fatah became the target of an email campaign initiated by a group of étudians, the Islamic Canadian Congress. The ICC said that Fatah does not represent the majority of Canadian Muslims.

Fatah commented, "this is what the issue may have closer to a death threat, since this class me as an apostate and blasphemer." And Fatah, like Farzana Hassan Shahid, has received death threats very clear.

The voices of moderation or reform within the Islamic community are clearly disadvantageous position, because the Jihadists can very effectively use the Quran and Sunnah against them. In addition, all schools of law of Islam explain a MUST apostate be killed, a command rooted in the teachings of Muhammad, who said:

"If somebody (a Muslim) abandons his religion, kill it. "

Thus, threatening to kill someone can become an act of piety.

It is ironic that Western non-Muslims observers, who know nothing or very little of Islam, presume that the voices or liberal reformers are predominant in the Islamic communities of the West and by the way, whereas the reality is that people like Farzana Hassan Shahid and Tarek Fatah had very little influence among Muslims, and over all, they are hunted people.

The Muslim reformers deserve all the support we can give them, but we should stop deluding us into thinking that they are a majority.

And most importantly, government representatives and the law should stop designing policies based on the assumption that people like Farzana Hassan Shahid and Tarek Fatah are really the majority.
Link Via Marc Lebuis

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Response to "Quebec Woman" - Letter from a non-Muslim Algerian immigrant, by Iba Bouramine


"We have not knelt in our country, yet under Islamic domination total. We have chosen exile and Quebec opened our arms. But it did not open to us. We do not dispute the presence of "other" here, but we suffer to see our friends Quebecers ethnic abide increasingly demands of the powerful Islamist lobbies and even individuals Islamists (which does not arise as such)."

Hi Sister Québécoise,

Unfortunately, we have seen worse by the intelligentia Quebec and "their" media. We have beautiful speak in the "circus" of the commission Bouchar-Taylor, we participate in many popular forums on reasonable accommodation, we have beautiful try to participate by telephone at the TV or radio broadcasts on the subject, we remain the plague that we were in our countries of origin.

The Quebec Official prefer to give a voice to people who portray Islam Quebecers a sweetened, all rose. As for us, we would not be credible because defendants want to settle past accounts with Islam on earth Quebec. We are troublemakers and a danger to civil peace and to "live together".

Whenever the media invite Islamist decided to sleep vigilance of Quebecers, they begin by presenting their CV and their functions in Quebec society. They are researchers, journalists, writers, specialists in the Middle East, university teachers, PhD holders, master's or je ne sais quoi. They know all the respect that Quebecers for diplomas, titles and pompous "sleeping functions."

Other immigrants may have also have doctorates, masters or ingéniorats, they are hardly heard because they do not seek to legitimize their diplomas or the jobs they hold. We would even traitors who want evil to our respective communities and who dénigrons without reason. We are from Muslim countries, the adjectives "Islamophobic", "xenophobic", "racist" not suitable for us to designate Quebec.

There is something else for us even when we say explicitly that we are actually Islamophobic. This term, which denotes a real fear of this terrible religion for non-Muslims in the land of Islam, we claim because it follows the instinct of conservation, we can not deny us, not we acculturer not we bring to their knees in front of this huge undertaking alienation.

We have not knelt in our country, yet under Islamic domination total. We have chosen exile and Quebec opened our arms. But it did not open to us. We do not dispute the presence of "other" here, but we suffer to see our friends Quebecers ethnic abide increasingly demands of the powerful Islamist lobbies and even individuals Islamists (which does not arise as such).

I'm not under any illusions. What happened in Europe happen here. The methodology used is the same, the approach is the same, the discourse is the same, and first results are the same, ie promising to Islamism (same of Islam). For the moment, these are immigrants who are directly and daily confronted the Islamist brutality. This confrontation is not felt among Quebecers because it is vêtit clothes of law, justice, living together, tolerance and the duty to accommodate overseas.

Personally, I do not think there is a reasonable way to combat Islamism, in its jihadist gross or under its ideological insidious form. I have always opposed a categorical NO to any attempt to m'imposer any rule or any Muslim rite of the religion. For the accusations of Islamophobia or apostasy, I reply: "Yes, I do not like that religion, I've never adopted, I would not do mine, and I do not faciliterais its expansion. I have neither to justify nor excuse me." When Quebecers will understand that there is no harm to think and say that, evil is to discourage himself and return to better feelings. You guess now why, people like me (there are thousands), will never be welcome in debates in which "everybody beautiful it is, everyone it is nice."

Iba Bouramine,
21 years
Born in Algiers, I have grown in Ahunstic

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Support women of Iran, by Noémie Cournoyer


For over 30 years, Iranian women are victims of religious fascism imposed by the fundamentalist mullahs in power in Tehran.

Laws misogynist (personal and family status), inhuman punishment (lashes for being "badly veiled", stoning to death for adultery ...) and all kinds of discrimination (social, professional, ..) are in force and practiced every day in the name of religion.

Our mothers, our sisters and our daughters have been relegated to the rank of second class citizens and suffer daily from the worst repression and deprivation because women! Their situation is worse since the arrival in power of the current President of the Republic of mullahs, an ultra-reactionary among others. Several women, including minors, were sentenced to death in recent months and await their fate on death row.

However, the daily struggle of Iranian women against injustice has never ceased, on the contrary, it has intensified every day despite the brutal agents of the mullahs. Last year, despite the official ban, they were several thousands to demonstrate with great courage in Tehran and other major cities in Iran to celebrate International Women's Day and to reclaim their legitimate rights and their freedom .



They need voices strong support, especially in the West where we have the "privilege" to discuss the shortcomings of existing laws on equality, parity and so on.

So encourage and support the events of oppressed women of this great country with a civilization of several thousand years.

Every voice, every statement, every release and every individual or collective approach. In our era of communication and information Iranian women hear, but also the authorities of the regime.

The victory and the emancipation of Iranian women will they not an additional boost to global movement of women?

"These are ideas face of adversity and the opposition which lead us to reflection"

Francis Chartrand

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Islam did not impose the hijab by Anne Humphreys

Islam did not impose the hijab


Hey, want ...

... Against this tide of Islam dominant and politically correct, are fortunately Resisters as Djamal Al-Bana, the younger brother of Hassan Al-Bana, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. In an interview with Al-Arabia.net, Djamal Al-Bana, a Muslim theologian and enlightened, returned to the issue of hijab. He claims there is nothing in Islam that supports its obligation. "The hijab, he said, was imposed to Islam. This is not Islam, which has imposed ".

And he adds: "The hair of the women are not part shameful. She can perform her prayer individual bare head." Djamal Al-Bana then cites a Hadith true that men and women made their ablutions in the same basin at the time of the Prophet. "This practice has persisted life of the Prophet and survived until the caliphate of Omar who was removed," he says before adding: "These are companies which men have imposed this look on the woman. The mix is a necessity even if it leads to mistakes. This is not because a person was struck by a car that must prohibit the street for pedestrians. "

The younger brother of Hassan Al-Bana who said he was "coraniste", ie partisan return to the Koran only as a source theological, goes even further. He claims that a woman has the right to lead prayer if it has the capabilities. " "If it is more knowledgeable than men, it is to lead the collective prayer," he adds.

Well ...

If I understand correctly, nobody is required to wear a hijab. But what does the Quebec left at the moment in protecting the institutions now in its supposedly secular? A woman can therefore, according to the brother of Hassan, of Algerian origin, to achieve the functions of imam. So in Western society today, if no female side is a shameful part, and that the "prophet" we created, naked men and women, according to his desires, a woman may well "lead to prayer "in holding it wants, ie as in Canadian society, a fitting jeans with a g-string together the navel to the air with the cracks of bare breasts.

Why listen there yet this bearded ayatollah of his palace in Tehran?

Why should we "absolutely" shake hands oil from Saudi Arabia, when this same hand we want to cut the head? For let us face it, many Saudi mullahs call the faithful to proclaiming fatwa of killing to Canada, especially Quebec, for breach of spirituality, because Ruhollah Khomeini said: "Who pray not, perish."

Well, I won't die in front of a fanatic to make him smile. And don't call me Islamophobic, fuckers! There is nothing racist in condemning execution in a public place of women "because they were not wearing the hijab" or "because they MAY BE committed adultery, we do not know, it does no chance. "

Wake up the West, you sleep on gas! And that's the case to say (Gaz Gulf countries)! The future and the challenges of more than 200 million women (and I am not even exaggerating enough) is in your hands when they are taken with mullahs and ayatollahs, who are degenerated for the most part, and which interprets Islam as HIM has decided like that.

You, the West, what you doing? You pay gas, at $ 150 a barrel, these countries there. Ah, you tell me he at least, less blood above that of Americans? Error, not because your oil not just Iraq that is less bloody ...

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

 

Côte d’Ivoire: End Impunity for Pro-Government Student Group, by Francis Chartrand


Government Should Investigate, Punish Those Responsible for Crimes

The government of Côte d’Ivoire should take immediate steps to end impunity for members of a pro-government student group responsible for numerous acts of violent, criminal behavior, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Since 2002, when a failed coup attempt plunged the country into a political and military crisis, the Student Federation of Côte d’Ivoire (Fédération Estudiantine et Scolaire de Côte d’Ivoire, FESCI), alternatively described as a “pro-government militia” and a “mafia,” has been responsible for politically and criminally motivated violence, including murder, assault, extortion, and rape. Attacks have often targeted perceived opponents of the ruling party, the Popular Ivorian Front (Front Populaire Ivoirien, FPI).

“For years, the government of Côte d’Ivoire has demonstrated a sustained and partisan failure to investigate, prosecute or punish serious criminal offenses by FESCI members,” said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The impunity enjoyed by groups like FESCI has got to stop now in order to create a climate conducive to peaceful elections.”

The 98-page report, “‘The Best School’: Student Violence, Impunity, and the Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire,” documents how, in the last several years, members of FESCI have been implicated in attacks on opposition ministers, magistrates, journalists, and human rights organizations, among others. According to interviews with victims and eyewitnesses, the student group has killed, raped and severely beaten students perceived sympathetic to the northern-based rebellion or the political opposition.

In addition, FESCI is routinely associated with “mafia”-type criminal behavior including extortion and protection rackets involving merchants working in and around university and high school facilities. In tandem with other pro-government youth groups such as the Young Patriots, FESCI members have been repeatedly mobilized since 2002 to stymie Côte d’Ivoire’s peace process at key junctures to the benefit of the ruling FPI party. FESCI’s actions both on and off campus have seriously undermined freedoms of speech, assembly, and association.

Human Rights Watch based its findings on a five-week investigation in Abidjan and Bouaké. The report describes FESCI’s roots and actions, together with the government’s complacency, and at times complicity, in the violence and crimes perpetrated by FESCI members.

In interviews with Human Rights Watch, police, professors, and students spoke of the unwillingness of state security forces to intervene in the face of criminal conduct by FESCI members. A police officer interviewed by Human Rights Watch expressed frustration at what he perceived to be his inability to take action against FESCI-perpetrated abuses: “Today, FESCI does what it wants and nothing happens. They benefit from total impunity. Members of FESCI are never punished and they never will be, because those in power support them. We know those among them who have killed, stolen, and beaten, but we can’t do anything against them in the current system.”

Several members of the university professors’ union interviewed by Human Rights Watch described the effect violence by FESCI has on campus: “Regarding freedom of expression, we professors pay attention to all we say and do as concerns FESCI. The politicians, police, and army won’t help you if you are threatened by FESCI. FESCI can murder and the investigation will never go anywhere.”

Some FESCI members interviewed for the report appeared to revel in the impunity they enjoy. One student bragged that a simple phone call suffices in many instances to free a member of FESCI in trouble with the police: “If someone gets arrested, say for beating a taxi driver, we go en masse to the police station and announce that we are FESCI and free the person.”

One year ago today, FESCI members stormed and ransacked the headquarters of two of Côte d’Ivoire’s leading human rights organizations, the Ivorian League for Human Rights (Ligue Ivoirienne des Droits de l’Homme, LIDHO) and Actions for the Protection of Human Rights (Actions pour la Protection des Droits de l’Homme, APDH). FESCI targeted the organizations allegedly because of their support for university professors striking for better working conditions. Since then, efforts by both groups to seek justice for the attacks have met with little success.

“The inability of two of Côte d’Ivoire’s most prominent human rights organizations to obtain justice for FESCI-led attacks on their headquarters is symbolic of the injustice faced by many of the student group’s victims across the country,” said Dufka.

The government of Côte d’Ivoire has obligations under international human rights law to respect the rights to life, bodily integrity, liberty and security of the person, and to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. These obligations include acting to prevent and prosecute private actors such as FESCI who are responsible for the infringement of these rights.

In a March 26 interview with Human Rights Watch, current FESCI Secretary General Augustin Mian acknowledged “there have been violence and other problems” and pledged to create a “new, mature FESCI that turns its back on violence.” Human Rights Watch welcomed these statements, and at the same time called on the government of Côte d’Ivoire to take measures to end the impunity that allows violent activity by youth groups to continue undeterred. Actions should include launching an immediate police investigation into crimes that members of youth groups such as FESCI have committed.

“Putting an end to the violence that has become synonymous with university life in Côte d’Ivoire will require long-term commitment by the government, especially the ministries of higher education, interior, and justice,” said Dufka.

For the last eight years, Côte d’Ivoire has been racked by a social, political, and military crisis that has accelerated economic decline, deepened political and ethnic divisions, resulted in the de facto partition of the country between a government-controlled south and rebel-controlled north, and led to a scale of human rights abuses previously unseen in the nation’s post-independence history. Youth groups – pro-government and pro-rebel – have played an important role in the crisis, having both inflicted and suffered from egregious acts of violence. The student group FESCI is the cradle in which most of these youth movements were nurtured.

Since the March 2007 signing of a peace agreement between the government and northern-based rebels, the Ouagadougou Agreement, political tensions throughout Côte d’Ivoire have ebbed, leading pro-government groups such as FESCI and the Young Patriots to adopt a lower profile. Should political tensions rise again, particularly in the lead-up to presidential elections currently scheduled for late November 2008, many political observers fear that these groups will immediately resume the activities for which they became notorious at the height of the crisis.

“The success of the Ouagadougou Agreement in diminishing tensions has created a favorable climate to addressing the longstanding problem of impunity in Côte d’Ivoire,” said Dufka. “The government should take advantage of this opportunity to tackle an issue that not only has a chilling effect on freedom of speech, assembly, and association, but also undermines the rule of law and long-term prospects for peace.”

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Cluster Bomb Treaty Breaks New Ground, by Francis Chartrand


The new cluster munitions treaty adopted in Dublin on May 30, 2008, will save thousands of lives for decades to come, with key treaty provisions stronger than even some of its staunchest supporters had expected, Human Rights Watch said today.

The treaty immediately bans all types of cluster munitions, rejecting initial attempts by some nations to negotiate exceptions for their own arsenals, as well as calls for a transition that would delay the ban for a decade or more.

In addition to the prohibitions on use, production, stockpiling, and trade, the treaty also includes very strong provisions requiring states to provide assistance to victims and to clean up areas affected by cluster munitions.

“This treaty will make the world a safer place for millions of people,” said Steve Goose, director of the Arms division at Human Rights Watch. “Cluster munitions have been tossed on the ash heap of history. No nation will ever be able to use them again without provoking the immediate revulsion and disapproval of most countries in the world.”

Cluster munitions typically explode in the air and send dozens, even hundreds of tiny bomblets over an area the size of a football field. Used in urban areas, they invariably kill and injure civilians. Used in any circumstance, they can harm civilians even decades after the war is over, as “duds” on the ground act like landmines, exploding on contact.

Both governments and non-governmental organizations campaigning for the treaty built consciously on the precedent set by the 1997 Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty. But in many ways, the Convention on Cluster Munitions goes farther, Human Rights Watch said.

“This treaty bans not just some cluster munitions, but all cluster munitions,” Goose told the assembled delegates in his capacity as co-chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, a group of hundreds of NGOs supporting the ban. “It does not try to differentiate between good cluster munitions and bad cluster munitions, it bans them all. This is a convention with no exceptions. This is a convention with no delays. This can only be described as an extraordinary convention.”

Human Rights Watch urged governments supporting the treaty to make all necessary preparations to sign the treaty in Oslo in December 2008. The treaty will go into effect after 30 nations have signed and ratified it.

Several of the world’s biggest users or stockpilers of cluster munitions were not present at the Dublin talks, including the United States, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Pakistan, and Israel. But experience with the Mine Ban Treaty suggests that even non-signatories will ultimately feel bound by the ban on cluster munitions. Although the United States has still not signed the Mine Ban Treaty, for example, it has not used, exported, or produced any antipersonnel landmines since the treaty was negotiated 11 years ago.

“The most important thing this treaty does is to stigmatize cluster munitions,” said Goose. “The stigma will grow and deepen over time, and ultimately make the use of cluster munitions unthinkable by anyone.”

The new treaty’s sole disappointment came in Article 21, which is designed to provide legal protection for a signatory’s armed forces if another country uses cluster munitions during joint military operations. Human Rights Watch urged governments to make clear in official statements a “common understanding” that the treaty does not allow deliberate assistance for the use of cluster munitions during joint operations and does not allow non-signatories to stockpile cluster munitions on the territory of signatory states.

The UK government has already indicated that it will ask the United States to remove its cluster munitions from UK territory within the eight-year deadline for stockpile destruction.

The United States has not been present at the negotiations, but put intense, behind-the-scenes pressure on negotiating states to avoid inhibiting future US use of the banned weapon.

Article 21 of the treaty also includes a requirement that signatories actively discourage use by other states.

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The Carpet

The naivety of Western democracies will not ever cease to surprise me.

While Turkey, a country that is fighting against fundamentalism for years, has banned the wearing of the veil at university, the Committee Bouchard-Taylor, it says that we should bring to the veil 'from the primary school!

Like the crucifix?

As might be expected, the ineffable Francoise David, ex-feminist who is now courbettes before the religious extremists (at least those who are not Catholic, "openness" towards other communities requires), Ms. David, therefore, applauds the decision of Commissioners augustes four hands.

"Who am I to ban the wearing of the Muslim veil? she wrote. Would I forbide wearing the crucifix to Catholics? "

Asked quiz: is there a country that requires women to wear a cross to their necks under threat of being imprisoned, stoned or égorgées? Answer: Not.

But no matter, Ms. David persists, sign and place the red carpet before the bearded. To the great delight of the gna-gna left which confuses self-respect and racism.

Disagree

Meanwhile, at the Journal de Montréal, we receive letters. Letters like Asmaa Moussa: "Adult, I chose not to wear the Islamic veil. It determines the girls to wear. My choice was difficult, given the pressures around me. I therefore hope that Messrs. Bouchard and Taylor will oppose the wearing of the veil for religious employees. "

Letters such as Ahmed Aboud: "The majority of us, Muslims, have left our country to escape the grip of religion. The State (schools, etc.) must remain secular. The Quebec does not accommodate fanatical devotees of Islam or other religions. It is first of all to us, immigrants, make the effort to integrate and, above all, respect the Quebec values of justice and equality between men and women. "

And letters like that of Hassan Jamali: "The commission has offered a showcase to the unexpected fundamentalist Muslims. The bearded were absent at the meetings of the Commission. They sent remote and veiled women having the same profile: educated and speaking very clearly the french. After each meeting, in newspapers and on television, did these women ... "

Between you and me, who knows better Islam? Francoise David, Quebec pure wool, or Asmaa Moussa Ahmed and Aboud Hassan Jamali?

Place to women now

The last letter, Mr. Jamali, is particularly interesting. "Because if I was an extremist Islamist, what would I do? I would go myself explain the microphone? I would go myself why I want my wife, my mother, my sisters and my daughters turning a blind?

Of course not! I spend a horrible misogynist message...

I would rather send beautiful women in jeans who say they wear the veil by choice, telling me that this is the best way to melt the western leftists steeped conviction ... What Françoise David and his friends have done.

This tactic, the Islamists have used in all countries where the veil debate has raged. And almost every time, they managed to bring the "gogauche" naive in their back pocket ...

I am sure they will all vote Québec solidaire at the next election.
Lien

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The madmen of God

The new trend in the USA: gyms for Christians.

You can attend yoga classes baptized "Yogod" and a course of cardio-bike entitled "Chariots of Fire". The tee-shirts and shorts are fitting banned and women must conceal their post under clothing long enough.

The bar serves cocktails without alcohol baptized "Promised Land", milk and honey, and speakers broadcast of Christian rock. Il ya même une messe le dimanche. There is even a mass on Sunday.

Who says that only Muslim extremists and Hassidic Jews were puritans?

All religions are alike .... And all forms of extremism are disturbing ...

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Friday, June 06, 2008

 

Chavez Revamps His Intelligence Services: The Corporate Media React, by Francis Chartrand


Reports keep surfacing about new threats against Hugo Chavez. Given past ones, they can't be taken lightly. Chavez is alerted and reacts accordingly. Case in point: revamping Venezuela's decades old intelligence services. It's long overdue and urgently needed given the Bush administration's tenure winding down and its determination in its remaining months to end the Bolivarian project and crush its participatory democracy.

CIA, NED, IRI, USAID and other US elements infest the country and are more active than ever. Subversion is their strategy, and it shows up everywhere. Violence is being encouraged. Opposition groups are recruited and funded. So are members of Venezuela's military. Student groups as well and anti-Chavista candidates for November's mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

The dominant media are on board in Venezuela and America. They assail Chavez relentlessly and are on the warpath again after his May 28 announced intelligence services changes. The Interior and Justice Ministries will oversee a new General Intelligence Office and Counterintelligence Office in place of the current Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP). Similar military intelligence and counterintelligence components will replace the Military Intelligence Division (DIM) and will be under the Defense Ministry. Why was it done and why now? To counter stepped up US espionage and destabilization efforts when it's most needed.

New tools will be used and current personnel retrained and vetted for their Bolivarian commitment. DISIP and DIM are outdated. They've been around since 1969 to serve the "capitalist vision" of that era. Ever since, they've been "notoriously repressive" and closely aligned with the CIA. Therein lies the problem. Chavez intends to fix it. The dominant media reacted. They're hostile to change and showed it their reports.

The New York Times' Simon Romero has trouble with his facts. He headlined "Chavez Decree Tightens Hold on Intelligence." He referred to the new Law on Intelligence and Counterintelligence that passed by presidential decree under the legislatively-granted enabling law. He failed to explain that the 1969 law passed the same way, and that Venezuela's Constitution then and now permit it.

Instead, he noted a "fierce backlash here from (mostly unnamed) human rights groups and 'legal scholars' who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms....The new law requires (them) to....assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Mr. Chavez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years (and up to) six years for government employees."

Once again, Romero falls short on credibility. Hyperbole substitutes for truth as in all his reports. No country more respects human rights than Venezuela, and Chavez is committed to them. To the rule of law as well and social justice. The country's Constitution mandates it, and government officials are bound by it. Appointed officials with other aims have no place in it. They need to be exposed and replaced but need fear no recrimination unless they violate the law.

The new one won't create "a society of informers" as one of Romero's sources stated. Nor will it imprison Venezuelan citizens or let Chavez "assert greater control over public institutions in the face of political challenges following a 'stinging' defeat in December('s) constitutional (referendum) that would have expanded his powers."

It will insure greater "national security" and protect against "imperialist attacks" as Chavez explained. It's to preserve Bolivarianism against persistent attempts to destroy it. It's to serve all Venezuelans, advance a new 21st century vision, and put people ahead of privilege. It's to counter Bush administration efforts to restore neoliberalism, return the old order, and destroy social justice in the region's most model democracy.

Without explaining Venezuelan law or its legislative process, Romero states that the "law (was drafted and passed) behind closed doors, without exposing it to....public debate (and that) contributed to the public uproar and suspicion." His "public," of course, are elitists. They target Chavez for removal, denounce all his beneficial changes, and falsely accuse him of governing dictatorially.

"They" claim "justice officials, including judges, are required to actively collaborate with the intelligence services rather than serve as a check on them." According to Americas director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), Jose Miguel Vivanco: "This is a government that simply doesn't believe in the separation of powers....(It requires) the country's judges (to) serve as spies for the government." Vivanco knows better and damages HRW's credibility with comments like these. Romero uses them with relish to aid the imperial project.

Venezuela's internal threat is unmentioned. Rogue elements infest the government and military. They oppose democracy and social justice. Washington supports them. They must be found and removed. Venezuelans demand it. Better intelligence will help. Romero won't report it. Instead, he inverts truth and sides with forces trying to destabilize and undermine a government of, by and for the people.

He quotes "a prominent legal scholar" (in fact, right wing lawyer Rocio San Miguel) saying "This is the most scandalous effort to intimidate the population in the 10 years this government has been in power. Under the new law (information I have) could be considered a threat to national security and I could be sent immediately to jail." Indeed she could if she violates the law or tries to subvert the government. Otherwise, she's entitled to all benefits and protections Venezuelan law affords everyone. No comment from Romero.

AP echoed The New Times in its headlined May 31 report: "Venezuelan intelligence law draws protests, seen as potential tool against dissent." Again, it's false and misleading and part of the imperial plot against Chavez. AP unfairly equates the new law to the USA Patriot Act, when, in fact, it's totally dissimilar. The US law violates constitutional civil liberties. Venezuela's respects them, but it's easy for protesters to claim otherwise.

Justice Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin explained the difference. US law spies on Americans and denies them legal protection. Venezuela's law enlists responsible citizen participation in preserving their government. They have a stake in "state security and resolving crimes. If (they) witness (wrongdoing and) hide it, then (they) are an accomplice to that crime." It doesn't require people to spy. It wants them to cooperate and be engaged in preserving Bolivarianism and to report threats against it. It's to make them responsible citizens united for their common self-interest.

That's not how BBC sees it as part of its anti-Chavez agenda. Its June 3 online report highlighted: "Venezuela 'spy' law draws protest....among groups who say it threatens civil liberties." One of them is HRW's Vivanco again voicing the same false and misleading statements about "judges serving as spies." Another source, with a clear anti-Chavez agenda, says the "law may be used as a weapon to silence and intimidate the opposition."

In fact, Chavez champions free expression in all forms unlike in America post-9/11. Repressive laws and presidential executive orders stifle it. Activists are targeted, harassed and imprisoned. Illegal spying is institutionalized. So are repression, torture and disdain for the rule of law. Where are BBC, AP, The New York Times and other dominant media voices? Why aren't they exposing police state justice? Instead they denounce democracy, ally with despotism, and acknowledge no hint of hypocrisy.

Chavez is mirror opposite his media critics and counters them correctly. He calls the USA Patriot Act "dictatorial law." In contrast, the new Venezuelan one upholds freedom, seeks to preserve it, and is within "a framework of great respect for human rights." It will combat US subversion that dominant media sources ignore. They blame victims instead and are willing co-conspirators against Venezuela's model democracy. Their latest efforts show why Chavez needs all the defense he can marshal against them, and for all the right reasons.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Mondays from 11AM to 1PM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests. All programs are archived for easy listening.http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9118

Source

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Olbermann on June 5th



















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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

 

Tribute to Sinead O'Connor's courage


Sinead O'Connor - War -
par popefucker



Sinead O'connor - War
par popefucker

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