As President Trump signs executive orders on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, suspending refugee admissions for 120 days, indefinitely blocking all Syrian refugees, blocking entry to the US from seven countries, and limiting the amount of refugees, the White House statement from earlier in the day rings hollow. The statement reads, “it is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror” of the Nazi regime and we know that the depravity and horror of war is still alive in Syria and other war-torn countries that carefully vetted refugees are escaping from. As an organization that cares about the most vulnerable in our society and believes in promoting nonviolent, peaceful resolutions to conflicts, we at the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center oppose any plan to reduce refugee admissions, especially a plan that explicitly targets and excludes Muslims from being resettled in the United States. We advocate strongly against policy changes that deny refugees access based on their religion or country of origin.As people of faith, we must welcome the stranger, welcome people who are suffering, and provide for those who are fleeing war, terror, and persecution. This is central to the message of the Gospel and a core Christian belief. Promoting racist and xenophobic messages, by equating all members of one religion to a radical sect, is dangerous and misguided.IJPC is proud to work in solidarity, peace, and justice alongside CAIR and with the Muslim community. We stand in resistance to President Trump’s executive orders and divisive rhetoric against refugees and their allies.Please call your Member of Congress and share your concerns with them. Tell them that we believe refugees and Muslims are welcome in our community.
Category Archives: Apartheid
These are the Palestinian children killed by Israel in 2016 | The Electronic Intifada
Ruqayya Abu Eid, 13Ruqayya was shot dead by a private security guard after she allegedly attempted to stab him in the Anatot settlement near Jerusalem on 23 January.A Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, condemned the girl’s slaying. “Even if she had a knife, it would have been possible to arrest a girl that age instead of killing her,” Esawi Frej of the Meretz party said.Haaretz reported that Ruqayya died of a single bullet wound to the heart.“I have no explanation for her decision,” the girl’s father told the paper. “There were two guards there, and they could have overcome her. A little girl. They are trained and armed, you know, so how is it they could not arrest a little girl of 13? Was a girl of 13 a threat to them? Whatever she planned to do, they could still have arrested her.”Ruqayya was laid to rest in the village of al-Karmel east of the West Bank town of Yatta, near Hebron.
Source: These are the Palestinian children killed by Israel in 2016 | The Electronic Intifada
A settler living in an illegal outpost issues orders to demolish Palestinian homes – PNN
The racism in Israel is mostly reflected in every aspect of their life, the last of which came within the context of disclosing that Head of the Regional Unit to enforce the laws of planning and building at the Israeli Ministry of Finance, Adv. Avi Cohen, who is in charge of implementing the law of demolishing Palestinian homes, is living in an unlicensed building in the illegal Bilgi Mime outpost, built in 1984, on lands belonging to Qaryout, Saweiya and Al-Luban in Nablus Governorate, under a government resolution. Cohen was appointed 2 years ago as a Head of the Regional Unit to enforce the laws of planning and building, also called Regional Unit for Monitoring the Building. Moreover, the Unit has the powers and authority to follow-up everything related to construction in cooperation with all planning institutions.
Source: A settler living in an illegal outpost issues orders to demolish Palestinian homes – PNN
Trump′s abortion ban puts African women at risk | Africa | DW.COM | 25.01.2017
International NGOs offering abortion services will no longer receive US funding, sparking fears for women in developing countries. Now the Dutch government has called for a global fund to try to cover the shortfall.
Source: Trump′s abortion ban puts African women at risk | Africa | DW.COM | 25.01.2017
Why women need to keep marching in Italy – The Local






“During the Women’s March I not only saw a strong, courageous, and emotional demonstration, but I felt a new energy which I’ve rarely felt during other public demonstrations: togetherness between protesters of different ages, genders, sexual orientations and religions.”
Source: Why women need to keep marching in Italy – The Local
The Humiliation of Entering The United States As Arab | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares
Ten years later, after months of back and forth with the Embassy and papers flowing in and out, I was finally given a visitor’s visa for 5 years on my third try, routine for Lebanese citizens who were granted the document as far as I know. A few months later, I visited the United States of America for the first time ever.On my second visit, the border control officer said his system “couldn’t process” me, so I was taken into another room where, an hour and another interrogation later, I was permitted entry to come into the US to do my medical residency interviews. This happened again on my third entry, with longer waiting times. Entering the US has been the most invasive thing to my being, and I’ve survived medical school.It’s also what has been happening to many of my colleagues and friends: doctors, scientists, researchers, humans. Just because they were unfortunate enough to be born in countries that are not worthy of enough of having their citizens treated with the minimum of human decency. I can tell you stories about physicians who were kept in those rooms for four hours, waiting for who knows what. It’s never easy to sit there and not know what’s going to happen to you, just because you dared seek entry of a foreign country that you’ve already been thoroughly vetted to be given a visa to.
100+ Asian American & Pacific Islander Organizations Pledge to Resist Repression Under Trump Administration | Race Files
Mr. Trump’s campaign used explicit racial appeals to win the support of disaffected white voters, promising to restore their economic and social standing by deporting millions of immigrants, building a wall, creating a Muslim registry, banning Muslim immigration, and punishing Black dissent. He also engaged in deeply misogynistic language and behavior throughout his campaign. He insulted all people of color; people with disabilities; and women – all of whom amount to the majority of America. In the global arena, he has signaled at a new nuclear arms race, promised to expand the use of torture, and disparaged the United Nations.Since his election, Mr. Trump has chosen known white nationalists, corporate moguls, religious zealots, climate deniers, hawkish ex-generals, anti-Islam spokespersons, and anti-government crusaders to serve in his Administration. Right-wing extremists now dominate his party, which will control all three branches of the federal government and the majority of state legislatures, and are positioned to jeopardize the future of the Supreme Court for the next generation and beyond. Together this new realignment of forces seeks to turn back the clock on civil rights and environmental protections, to maximize corporate profits by privatizing the public sector, and to create a racially and culturally exclusive America.This is not business as usual, and we will not engage in business-as-usual tactics and strategies.
I Kept Feeling the Women’s March on Washington Lacked Passion, But Then I Figured the Real Problem – The Ladies Finger The Ladies Finger
As I chanted “No Trump. No KKK. No Fascist USA,” I looked into the faces of the marchers around me, and I got my answer: Americans are not accustomed to this. Most of these hundreds of thousands of people had probably never been to a protest before, and never marched with their children and their parents and screamed at the top of their lungs in the middle of a metropolitan road. This was their first time, their introduction to taking the streets. What I assumed was a lack of passion turned out to be something equally important: a first step. The million people: women, men, children, and allies who marched on Washington, did not have the experience of fighting against overt oppression, but they knew they needed to show up; they knew they must be united in the face of a new era that will have them fight for the rights they have long taken for granted. On this day, the American Woman showed up, she rose to the occasion, and though she was hesitant, she was determined.We arrived at the White House, filling the National Mall with pink pussy hats and chants of “my body, my rights”, and made our presence known. Soon after people started to scatter, but for the rest of the day, one could not go anywhere without running into someone with a sign or a pussy hat. This may not be the desperate protest that started a revolution against a Middle Eastern dictatorship, but it is the American woman beginning her fight. The movement has begun.
Growing up in fear of men – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.
I was 14 the first time a boy kissed me. It was during a Math class. I needed to use the washroom, and he came out a minute after I did. I didn’t want it. He wasn’t gentle about it. I still remember his nails digging into my arms. I remember how long it took. I remember his hand grabbing my waist, his grip in my hair, his tongue in my mouth, and his teeth scraping my lips. I remember how hard his grip was when he was grabbing my breasts.This was the same boy who became the face of my nightmares for two years. Sebastian made jokes about it in class: about my body, about what he wanted to do to me. The boys laughed; the girls rolled their eyes. The Math teacher ignored it all. I smiled along with the girls who insisted that he liked me. I cried when I was alone. I cried a lot over those two years. Fourteen-year-old me didn’t even know that I had the ability to cry so much.The first boy I was ever infatuated with was in the same Math class. I liked him. He was nice to me. He made me laugh. I was happy when he was around. Sebastian didn’t like that. He made it his mission to become friends with the boy I liked. I never knew in detail what it was that Sebastian said to him; what it was that made him ashamed to be around me. I didn’t know if Sebastian even told him about the kiss, or if he made it sound consensual. My crush started avoiding me, making me feel like I wasn’t good enough. After a while, I didn’t think I was good enough for anyone either.Looking back, I’m not disappointed in myself anymore. After a while I told people. I told teachers, and I told other girls who had been through similar experiences. The teachers were the biggest disappointments. It isn’t reasonable to expect children to protect other children. Teachers are supposed to have a duty towards the children they teach. The adult figures in my life failed me. It shouldn’t have taken me screaming and crying in class one day for a teacher to actually remove him from the class. That same male teacher shouldn’t have told me, when I raised my voice because Sebastian wouldn’t stop, that ‘it took two to tango.’
Source: Growing up in fear of men – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.
When a Palestinian girl is shot and killed ‘by accident’ | +972 Magazine
Samah’s father, Abed, finished his work in the field at around midday, informing his daughters that he would pick them up from Nablus. The mother, Halleh, and younger brother A. also came along for the ride. After some shopping in the city they started back home. After an hour the family’s car reached Hawara checkpoint. They passed the checkpoint without any other cars ahead of them; soldiers were present, but they did not try and stop the car. Then shots rang out. The front windshield was smashed. After that came the screams.Abed shouted for the passengers to duck. The car lurched on for a short distance, and then stopped. When Abed looked back, Samah was bleeding from her head. The hospital will later determine that a bullet went through her forehead, having found an exit wound.A Red Crescent ambulance in the area evacuated Samah to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. The rest of the family members hopped in a cab, and the two vehicles headed north back toward the checkpoint, where they were delayed. The soldiers refused to let the ambulance pass to Nablus. Abed, heated, asked the soldiers “Why did you kill my daughter?” “She had a knife,” they answered. He screamed at them: “A knife, what knife? She was holding a knife while sitting in a car with her mother and her siblings?”
Source: When a Palestinian girl is shot and killed ‘by accident’ | +972 Magazine







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