All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Abbas in solidarity with France

PNN/Bethlehem

The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Paris attacks and said that the Palestinians are standing in solidarity with the people of France.

Via PLO’s Twitter account: ” President Abbas: We condemn the terrorist #ParisAttacks and we extend our sympathy and solidarity with the French people and government.”

Other Palestinian authorities also express their solidarity with the French people: the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its shock of the “heinous crime” and extended its solidarity with France in its “just war against terrorism” and Jamal Nazzal, a spokesperson for the Fatah movement in Europe said that the movement also “condemned the terrorist act.”

Yesterday night a massive coordinated attack happened in Paris, France, killing almost 130 people and leaving more than 90 seriously injured.

This Saturday, the Islamic State group took responsibility for it. In a statement issued online, the group said that “eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles” conducted a “blessed attack on… Crusader France.”

French President Francois Holland announced three days of mourning after the attacks in 6 different locations in the French capital and stated that the coordinated assault was an “act of war.”

The Streets of Paris are as Familiar to me as the Streets of Beirut · Global Voices

I come from a privileged Francophone community in Lebanon. This has meant that I have always seen France as my second home. The streets of Paris are as familiar to me as the streets of Beirut. I was just in Paris a few days ago.These have been two horrible nights of violence. The first took the lives of over 40 in Beirut; the second took the lives of over 120 people and counting in Paris.It also seems clear to me that to the world, my people’s deaths in Beirut do not matter as much as my other people’s deaths in Paris.We do not get a “safe” button on Facebook. We do not get late night statements from the most powerful men and women alive and millions of online users.We do not change policies which will affect the lives of countless innocent refugees.This could not be clearer.I say this with no resentment whatsoever, just sadness.

Source: The Streets of Paris are as Familiar to me as the Streets of Beirut · Global Voices

Border Angels Celebrates Humanitarian Efforts | La Prensa San Diego

Emotional images depicted the opening of a door in the border wall between Playas de Tijuana and Border Field State Park to reunite families that have been separated by the border. Parents and their children melted in embrace for the first time in years. The door of hope opened this past April and for brief minutes, the border no longer mattered.With the intent of opening more doors, Border Angels, the local volunteer organization which has fought for the dignity and human rights of immigrants and the Latino community for over 29 years, held its fifth annual fundraiser dinner. The gala held at the Wyndham Bayside hotel in Downtown San Diego brought together members of the binational community to create awareness of of the humanitarian efforts of this organization, raise funds and recognize outstanding individuals and their work benefiting immigrants.

Source: Border Angels Celebrates Humanitarian Efforts | La Prensa San Diego

Chula Vista Ballet Fighting To Keep Classical Art In Chula Vista | La Prensa San Diego

Fight is a pretty strong word, and usually involves confrontation, but for Chula Vista Ballet, a non-profit youth ballet company, fighting is advocating, and that is something they are not backing down from as they strive to keep the classical art of ballet accessible and affordable to families in the South Bay.

Source: Chula Vista Ballet Fighting To Keep Classical Art In Chula Vista | La Prensa San Diego

Lebanon arrests five Syrians, one Palestinian suspect in Beirut bombings: security source | Reuters – {World solidarity with victims absent but progress made finding perpetrators.}

Lebanese authorities arrested five Syrians and a Palestinian in connection with the twin suicide bombings in central Beirut on Thursday that killed 43 people, a senior security source said on Saturday.The bombings in a busy residential and commercial area that is a stronghold for Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah were claimed by Islamic State.”Within 24 hours the network was arrested in the fastest uncovering of a bombing incident in the country,” the source said.

Source: Lebanon arrests five Syrians, one Palestinian suspect in Beirut bombings: security source | Reuters

Right way for refugees with Poland′s new Left | Europe | DW.COM | 14.11.2015

And yet for Swist, the real breakthrough was the emergence of a young, new leftist force, one with no ties to the old communist guard, and with a real social agenda to fight intolerance. Razem, or Together, the newest kid on the Polish political landscape, rose fast: It failed to win a seat in the Sejm, the lower chamber of parliament, but received enough support to bring it government funding.”I hope that the standards set by Razem will become standards in politics,” says Maciek Mandelt, another Nomada community worker.New ally in the fight against intolerance?”It’s time for a new Left in Poland, one that is no longer associated with communism,” says Katka Reszke, a Wroclaw-born documentary filmmaker working on the post-communist Jewish experience.”Because Poland has been homogeneous for so long, the refugee crisis will always trigger extreme reactions,” she says. “But what I read and hear in post-election discussions is very promising: People want to get involved, many young people who are making it a mission to fight xenophobia.”

Source: Right way for refugees with Poland′s new Left | Europe | DW.COM | 14.11.2015

Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad denounce Paris attacks | News | DW.COM | 15.11.2015

The leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad all issued statements Saturday denouncing the attacks in Paris, where 129 people were killed and more than 350 people were wounded on Friday night.Dozens of Syrian rebel groups have also denounced the attacks in a joint online statement as “against human values.”

Source: Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad denounce Paris attacks | News | DW.COM | 15.11.2015

Geena Davis on Gender Equality in Hollywood, Hillary Clinton, ‘Frozen’ and Bradley Cooper – Hollywood Reporter

Geena Davis is making it her mission to educate Hollywood in gender equality.For years the actor has been very vocal about the dire need for equal gender representation in movies and has backed up her words with research from her Institute on Gender in Media. A few days after giving a keynot speech at ArcLight’s Women in Entertainment event, Davis spoke with The Hollywood Reporter in a telephone interview.Davis explained that she specifically collects data on family movies because she wants to change what children see as they are growing up and creating their first impressions of gender in society.”We are training kids from the very beginning, from the first contact they have with pop culture, that girls don’t take up half the space,” said Davis, speaking about a study her institute did which discovered female characters make up only 17 percent of crowd scenes.

Source: Geena Davis on Gender Equality in Hollywood, Hillary Clinton, ‘Frozen’ and Bradley Cooper – Hollywood Reporter

RIP Adel Termos… A Hero from Lebanon

silverbulletsama:

Rather than running for his life, Adel sacrificed it to save
100s.

This is Adel Termos, a young father of two. 

image

Adel spotted the second ISIS
suicide attacker heading towards the Mosque in Burj Al Barajneh, Beirut’s
Southern Suburb, Lebanon, to blow himself up, and take100s of lives gathered to
pray.
Adel ran and tackled the bomber who quickly dispatched his bombs taking
both of his life and Adel’s with him. 

image

Adel sacrificed his life for the sake of 100s others. 

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Adel… May your Precious and Heroic soul Rest in Peace.