Category Archives: Global Politics

Official from Christian charity tortured by Israel, lawyer says | The Electronic Intifada

Israel detained Mohammad El Halabi in June, interrogated him for more than 50 days and then charged him with diverting up to $50 million to the military wing of Hamas.There are also new indications that Israel’s Shin Bet secret police tortured Halabi to extract the confessions it is relying on.On Monday, Kevin Jenkins, president and CEO of World Vision International, said his organization is “seeking to understand the truth behind the allegations laid against Mohammad El Halabi,” and had suspended operations in Gaza pending investigations.Jenkins added that “we still have not seen any of the evidence.”“World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile,” Jenkins said. He also noted Halabi’s signing authority to spend funds was limited to to just $15,000.“He was afraid they would kill him”Faced with these figures – which severely undermine the credibility of the Israeli accusations – an Israeli government official told Australia’s ABC network that the numbers were irrelevant.“It’s like when you catch a serial killer, the question of whether he killed 50 people or 25 people is not really relevant is it?” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said.This kind of reckless statement is adding to concerns among observers.“That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement from Emmanuel Nahshon,” Jacob Burns, a researcher at Amnesty International, tweeted. “Serious charges require serious (and fair) trial.”

Source: Official from Christian charity tortured by Israel, lawyer says | The Electronic Intifada

Wolf Blitzer just nailed Trump to the wall!

Unfortunately, Blitzer wasn’t buying it, and set out to demolish Hunter. And he did it beautifully. He started out by reading the statement intact; “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the second amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. Then m’man Wolf went for the jugular, using simple common sense. He told Hunter that when Trump spoke of Clinton appointing judges, that was an obvious admission that she had already won the freakin’ election! If she was selecting judges, she was the President, mobilizing 2nd amendment right voters to the polls would be useless, the election was over. What else could he possibly be talking about but assassinating either Clinton or Federal Justices? Hunter had no out. He retreated to the mantra that Trump was not a natural politician, his semantics were not always going to be well polished and perfected, especially when speaking off of the cuff, but all of the air had been sucked out of him Well done Wolf! See what you can do every once in a while if you use your brain for something more than just reading the words off of the teleprompter or script?

Source: Wolf Blitzer just nailed Trump to the wall!

India’s Cow Vigilantes by Shashi Tharoor – Project Syndicate – “fundamentalism kills, and kills, and kills in the name not of God but in the name of people who put themselves above God in their search for power and meaning.”

In the past, cow-protection laws have been weakly enforced, if at all; the police have better things to do than to check people’s kitchens, after all. But since the victory of the Hindu-chauvinist BJP in the 2014 general election, a wave of religious triumphalism has swept India, bringing with it not just new cow-protection laws, but also vociferous demands for their strict enforcement. Gau Rakshak Samitis, or “cow protection societies,” have been revived, and their members sometimes take it upon themselves to ensure that cows are not slaughtered or eaten.Making matters worse, the cause of cow protection has now been linked to another persistent and destructive custom in Indian society: violence against Muslims and Dalits (formerly called “untouchables”). Indeed, the Cow Belt, where cow vigilantism is most rampant, is also a hub of atrocities against Dalits, 63% of which occur in just four states: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. It is no coincidence that these are also the states where the BJP fared best in 2014.The link between cows and Dalits is well known. Cows may be considered holy, but they are not immortal, and when they die (ideally of natural causes), someone must dispose of their carcasses. For centuries, that job has fallen to Dalits, who collect the carcasses, skin them and sell their hides to tanners and leather-makers, deliver the meat to Muslim butchers (where it is legal), and bury or cremate what remains. It is a livelihood for a group with few economic opportunities – one that benefits the many Hindus who would not want to perform such an unpleasant task.But several recent incidents have shaken the foundations of this arrangement. In the state of Gujarat, four Dalit youths caught skinning a cow were stripped, tied, and beaten with iron rods by cow vigilantes who accused them of killing the animal (they had not). In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, two Dalit women were assaulted for supposedly carrying illegal cow meat (it was legal buffalo meat). In Punjab, two young Dalits were beaten and urinated upon for the same “crime.” A 16-year-old Kashmiri Muslim boy was murdered for having hitched a ride on a truck that was transporting cattle.

Source: India’s Cow Vigilantes by Shashi Tharoor – Project Syndicate

Flatmates of gay Syrian refugee beheaded in Turkey fear they will be next | World news | The Guardian

Three flatmates of a gay Syrian refugee beheaded in a homophobic attack in Turkey last week fear they face a similar fate, after receiving death threats in the days since his murder.Wisam Sankari, a hospital cleaner, went missing on 25 July after going to meet another gay man in Istanbul. His body was found two days later in a nearby area of Istanbul, his head severed and his battered body only identifiable to his friends by his clothing.A week on, three of his flatmates say they fear being murdered in the same fashion after receiving warnings that the man Sankari met on 25 July wants to kill them too.“There have been people in the street and people on the phone, who said: ‘He will get you next,’” said one of Sankari’s friends, a chef who, like his flatmates, asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “There was also a voice message on Facebook.”In an interview with the Guardian in Sankari’s former room, a cramped lodging he shared with five other people, his friends said he had been in fear during the last months of his life after Turkish officials, UN diplomats and charity workers had proved unable to protect him following a series of homophobic attacks.A Greek appeals board said in June that it considers Turkey safe enough for gay Syrians to be deported to as part of the controversial EU-Turkey migration deal. But Sankari’s friends say his experiences show how dangerous the country is for gay refugees, and unstable for refugees in general.They alleged that in the months before his death, Sankari had:Been kidnapped and raped in two separate homophobic attacks.Been mocked and ignored by police officers after he reported one of the incidents.Eventually initiated legal proceedings against his unknown kidnappers after a local NGO helped him find a lawyer.Recorded a video in which he expressed fears that he might soon be killed in a homophobic attack.Briefly moved to another Turkish city in an unsuccessful attempt to find a safer place to live.Been fired from a factory job because of his sexuality.“Do you call this safe?” summarised a second of Sankari’s flatmates, as they listened to their friend’s favourite song and watched a video made in his honour. “We don’t have an organisation to protect us. We want everyone in Europe to understand our situation here for Syrians, especially gays. We’re suffering.”

Source: Flatmates of gay Syrian refugee beheaded in Turkey fear they will be next | World news | The Guardian

David Leyonhjelm, Malcolm Roberts push for Section 18C of Racial Discrimination Act to be removed – Australian Broadcasting Corporation – “Racists just wanna be racist and never have to change, even if they are less humane than those they wish to insult and hold down!”

New One Nation senator-elect Malcolm Roberts also reiterated his similar stance on the race discrimination laws.”It is very important to the country because at the moment a lot of people are afraid to speak up,” he told Insiders. Mr Roberts had told reporters on Friday that Section 18C “needs to be addressed because [it is] curbing free speech”.Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act makes it illegal to carry out an act if: “(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and (b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group”.Section 18D of the Act outlines some exceptions — for example, an offence isn’t illegal if it is a fair and accurate report or comment.

Source: David Leyonhjelm, Malcolm Roberts push for Section 18C of Racial Discrimination Act to be removed – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

‘Planeload of cash’ for Iran: Editorial Board Roundtable | cleveland.com

Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:If Iran was owed the money, Iran was owed the money. The financial gains Iran would enjoy (from a number of countries, not just the United States) thanks to the so-called nuclear deal were widely publicized. The one thing that’s changed is that the GOP has nominated a likely loser for president, so his desperate partisans need something to divert attention from that ever-more-apparent fact. Meanwhile — and thanks for asking — what about two genuine Iranian-American scandals never resolved, at least not in the light of day? One is the alleged (and more than just possible) deal Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign made with the Iranian regime to delay

If Iran was owed the money, Iran was owed the money. The financial gains Iran would enjoy (from a number of countries, not just the United States) thanks to the so-called nuclear deal were widely publicized. The one thing that’s changed is that the GOP has nominated a likely loser for president, so his desperate partisans need something to divert attention from that ever-more-apparent fact. Meanwhile — and thanks for asking — what about two genuine Iranian-American scandals never resolved, at least not in the light of day? One is the alleged (and more than just possible) deal Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign made with the Iranian regime to delay release of U.S. Embassy hostages so Jimmy Carter would lose to Reagan. The other, later in the 1980s, was the Reagan administration’s blatantly illegal Iran-contra affair. Too bad for the truth — but good for some alleged Iran-contra principals — that then-President George H.W. Bush pardoned six of them 28 days before he left office. If anyone in Washington should know about hush-hush deals with Iran, it’s the Republican Establishment.

Source: ‘Planeload of cash’ for Iran: Editorial Board Roundtable | cleveland.com

Meet Jess Rizkallah: The Lebanese-American Whose Poem On Being Torn Between Being Arab & American Will Blow You Away | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

 

I’ve been into slam poetry for more than two years now and Button Poetry is one of my favorite YouTube channels. I love it so much that it’s the only YouTube channel for which I’ve enabled notifications.Late last night, Lebanon-time, I get a notification that a new poem by Jess Rizkallah has been uploaded. Intrigued by the name, I open the YouTube video to find one of the most enriching, gut-wrenching poems I’ve listened to on that website in months.In three short minutes, Jess Rizkallah was able to convey the struggles that she, a Lebanese-Arab-American woman in the United States goes through trying to juggle her Arab side with her American side, in a culture that is increasingly putting both of her components at odds. I mean just look at a creature like Donald Trump existing and at people, many of whom are Lebanese unfortunately, applauding him.

Source: Meet Jess Rizkallah: The Lebanese-American Whose Poem On Being Torn Between Being Arab & American Will Blow You Away | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally – POLITICO

Barbara Weisenthal, 56, said she was among those booing and that Khizr Khan did not have the “right” to say what he did about Trump at the DNC. His speech “was almost like slander,” she said.Of the woman who asked the question, Weisenthal said it was “probably not the best place to do that.”Jack Christenson, himself a veteran, said the questioner may have had the right to ask her question of Pence, but not “to violate everyone else’s rights,” which he said she did by speaking out at the event.“She was claiming that Trump was somehow insulting the veterans,” said Roen Horn, 29. He called that idea “a bunch of crap.”“She was politicizing the veterans,” she said. “She had an agenda.”

Source: Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally – POLITICO

Pope Francis says it is ‘not right’ to identify Islam with violence | World news | The Guardian

Pope Francis has said it was wrong to identify Islam with violence and that social injustice and idolatry of money were among the prime causes of terrorism.“I think it is not right to identity Islam with violence,” he told reporters aboard the plane taking him back to Rome after a five-day trip to Poland. “This is not right and this is not true.”

The pope was responding to a question about the killing on 26 July of an 85-year-old Roman Catholic priest during a church service in western France. The attackers forced the priest to his knees and slit his throat. The killing was claimed by Islamic State.“I think that in nearly all religions there is a always a small fundamentalist group,” he said, adding “We have them,” referring to Catholicism.“I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence because every day when I look at the papers I see violence here in Italy – someone killing his girlfriend, someone killing his mother-in-law. These are baptised Catholics,” he said.“If I speak of Islamic violence, I have to speak of Catholic violence. Not all Muslims are violent,” he said.He said there were various causes of terrorism.“I know it dangerous to say this but terrorism grows when there is no other option and when money is made a god and it, instead of the person, is put at the centre of the world economy,” he said.“That is the first form of terrorism. That is a basic terrorism against all humanity. Let’s talk about that,” he said.

Source: Pope Francis says it is ‘not right’ to identify Islam with violence | World news | The Guardian

Sorry Donald Trump, but ‘France IS still France’ – The Local

During a news conference in Florida on Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee brought up the recent attack on a church in Normandy, and said a friend who recently visited the country told him: “I wouldn’t go to France. France is no longer France.””They won’t like me for saying that,” Trump continued, “but you see what happened in Nice. You see what happened yesterday with the priest, who is supposed to be a spectacular man. France is no longer France.”Sorry to say, Mr Trump, but it is.And it’s largely because the majority French people defiantly won’t allow themselves to fall victim to the kind of reaction Trump would call for in the aftermath of a series of devastating terror attacks.No, France hasn’t closed its borders to Muslims.There have been some unsavoury incidents which saw some veil-wearing Muslim women verbally abused but the country’s five million Muslims are still free to wander the same streets as everyone else.There has been no walls put up around the banlieues – the poor suburbs home to mainly poor North African immigrant communities.There may be anger but communities have not turned on each other.

Source: Sorry Donald Trump, but ‘France IS still France’ – The Local