Category Archives: human rights

CENSORED NEWS: Heavy Police Force Blocks Standing Rock Prayer Oct. 6, 2016

Source: CENSORED NEWS: Heavy Police Force Blocks Standing Rock Prayer Oct. 6, 2016

A modest opinion – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Listen to Professor Snape ‘Lower your gaze’. These ignorant men do not even observe hijab themselves. Wearing tight jeans outlining their nether regions, short shirts, and not a daari (beard) in sight. Hijab is meant for all Muslims: I repeat ALL MUSLIMS.  In the times of Trump, and the aftermath of the Burkini Ban, Muslim men should be dressing in solidarity with Muslimahs instead of addressing topics beyond their expertise. It’s frustrating when media outlets conduct experiments where participants challenge themselves to observe hijab. These participants are praised for being brave, while Muslimahs are being cornered by two opposing parties.Instead of telling women how to dress, why don’t you sit down and take a note on how you can be a gentleman. One is not liberated if she is forced to forfeit her right to meet a personal ideal. Beauty standards should not be defined by what we choose to wear. A piece of cloth should neither cheapen our bodies nor make them more valuable. It is the intention and devotion that makes wearing hijab valuable. Muslimahs must go against the norm to create an identity for themselves and expressing that identity through a variety of outlets.The trolls’ ultimate purpose is to create a divide within the female community. These crucial moments are when females should follow the motto ‘sisters before misters’.  Having a united stance against bigoted ideas is an aspect of pro-choice activism: in other words the F- word: Feminism. Emancipating ourselves from a fatal patriarchal chokehold that seeks to scorn, scold and ostracize anyone with a vagina.  Dawah is not just oral communication; the best dawah comes from actions, and practicing what’s been preached. No one can do it better then the Muslimahs on Youtube.

Source: A modest opinion – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Jewish anti-Zionist removed as Momentum vice chair | The Electronic Intifada

 

Walker had written in February that the transatlantic slave trade had been an “African holocaust” and that “many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade.”Walker has since elaborated that the comments applied only to “a certain economic point, in specific regions where my ancestors lived.”Although she made the original comments in what she says was a private conversation among friends, unknown to her, her Facebook privacy settings at the time meant the comments were publicly visible.In May, the Israel Advocacy Movement sent the comments to pro-Israel paper The Jewish Chronicle, which then published selected excerpts from the conversation, creating another media storm.Without investigation, the Labour Party suspended Walker as soon as “the JC brought her comments to the party’s attention,” the paper boasted.Witch huntBut after an outcry from supportive Labour members, Walker’s suspension was lifted at the end of May.Party officials wrote to her saying she had no case to answer and she was readmitted, to the dismay of the JLM, which claimed she was an anti-Semite.Walker has since then been active in speaking out against the “witch hunt” of left-wing and pro-Palestinian Labour Party activists. This video of Walker was filmed at the Free Speech on Israel meeting at the Labour Party conference last week.

Source: Jewish anti-Zionist removed as Momentum vice chair | The Electronic Intifada

Google’s Decision To Sponsor Visa Of Anti-Gay Kenyan Activist Creates Internal Conflict: SFist

Ezekiel Mutua is the head of the Kenyan film classification board, and in that capacity has repeatedly condemned homosexuality and worked to ban music and film that depict it. “Kenya must not allow people to become the Sodom and Gomorrah through psychological drive from such content,” he told Mamba Online in reference to a cover of the Macklemore song “Same Love” which addressed the queer community in Kenya.In a country where homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison Mutua’s words carry weight, and the KFCB outlawed the music video in question.

Source: Google’s Decision To Sponsor Visa Of Anti-Gay Kenyan Activist Creates Internal Conflict: SFist

′We′re living in an occupied country′ | Americas | DW.COM | 03.10.2016 – Why is it that most of this talk is from Arizona and not California and Texas?

 

It’s hard to get an overview of things around here; the many canyons offer excellent cover for the smugglers with their heavy rucksacks, weighing up to 30 kilos (66 pounds) and full of marijuana, cocaine or heroin. In addition, Jim explains, the cartel has set up sentries everywhere, and they have top-of-the-range equipment. They guard the area, and warn the smugglers. Once, he says, he came across one of these scouts, who dropped his radio telephone as he ran away. “It was worth more than $2,500. They’re better equipped than our border patrol guards.”The Sinaloa Cartel has assumed complete control of the land. “When I’m out here, I feel as if I’m in an occupied country,” says Jim. He stares down at his feet in their hand-stitched cowboy boots.For decades, he and his wife were staunch Democrats. After university, Jim even worked for Democratic Senator Carl Hayden. This year, Donald Trump will get the Chiltons’ vote. “We don’t agree with everything he says and does. But he’ll take care of us. Hillary Clinton’s Washington gave up on us long ago.”

Source: ′We′re living in an occupied country′ | Americas | DW.COM | 03.10.2016

More Zika mosquitoes found in Miami Beach | CIDRAP – When will governments care more about health than tourist dollars?

Traps show mosquitoes still in Miami BeachDespite more than a month of ground and aerial spraying, officials in Florida reported that a trap in Miami Beach showed Aedes mosquitos harboring the Zika virus over the weekend. This was the sixth Zika-positive mosquito pool found in Miami Beach since Aug 19, and the first to show Zika-carrying bugs in the Mid-Beach neighborhood (the previous five mosquito pools were found in South Beach), according to the Miami Herald.The trap was located at 575 W. 49th street, near the La Gorce Golf Course. More than 64,000 Florida mosquitos have been tested for Zika virus since May; only the six pools in Miami Beach have tested positive for mosquitos carrying Zika virus.This was the first time health officials released the location of the traps as soon as samples tested positive, a move promoted by the Herald’s Sep 28 lawsuit that demanded the state release the location of traps that tested positive for Zika.The news comes after Florida Health, the state’s Department of Health, reported five more cases of locally acquired Zika virus on Sep 30 and nine more cases today. All nine cases were in Miami-Dade County; seven people had exposure in Miami Beach, and exposure in the other seven cases is currently under investigation.Also, Florida Health reported one more infection in an out-of-state resident who was exposed to Zika in Miami-Dade County and three new cases in those who traveled to both Miami-Dade County and countries where the virus is circulating, so exposure location can’t be definitively pinned down.The state now has recorded 133 local cases, 16 in out-of-state people, and 4 of undetermined exposure source.

Source: More Zika mosquitoes found in Miami Beach | CIDRAP

Trump Criticizes Veterans Suffering From PTSD: IAVA Founder Responds | Hollywood Reporter

One of the most forceful critics of Trump’s comments was Paul Rieckhoff, CEO and founder of Iran and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a group dedicated to supporting the interests of post-9/11 veterans. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rieckhoff was emphatic that his objectives are not political. “It’s a teachable moment for Mr. Trump and for America,” says Rieckhoff. “When political leaders talk about things like PTSD and suicide, they need to be responsible and precise. And unfortunately Trump is not a precise person.”When asked to explain why Trump’s comments would harm his constituency, IAVA’s founder cited three primary issues. “When people in power use terms like ‘killing yourself’ and ‘mental problems’ it perpetuates the stigma, it compounds the impression that these veterans are broken, and it can discourage them from seeking help,” says Rieckhoff. “And also, he assumed that no one in the audience has PTSD, which is a really unlikely assumption in a room full of war veterans.”Rieckhoff says he doesn’t expect Trump to apologize (“I know better than that”), but hopes that the controversy will sharpen the candidate’s awareness of the issue. “Obama is extremely careful and nuanced with his language about veteran suicide and PTSD, but it didn’t happen overnight,” he says. “There’s a steep learning curve and maybe Trump will master it.”Curiously, the IAVA CEO feels that the entertainment industry can speed up the curve. “The last time there was a conversation like this in the public, it was started by American Sniper and before that, Hurt Locker,” says Rieckhoff. “Hollywood can communicate about these issues in a visceral way that politics can’t. The end product is the public has an elevated conversation about these problems.”What does he hope that Trump and others in need of education will learn? “Getting help for a mental health injury is not a sign of weakness,” says Rieckhoff. “It’s a demonstration of strength.”

Source: Trump Criticizes Veterans Suffering From PTSD: IAVA Founder Responds | Hollywood Reporter

Facebook-Israel agreement could change face of social media – IFEX  – Money before people and freedom

The spectre of violent extremism is being used to repress legitimate dissent. In Israel, the agreement with Facebook appears to legitimize an Israeli policy that in recent months has resulted in an estimated 400 arrests of Palestinians—both in Israel and the Occupied Territories—for “incitement” in social media posts, primarily on Facebook. Posts have included acts as simple as writing a poem. States pressure private companies to engage in such agreements through shaming or “demonizing,” as well as threats of blocking, fines, or even imprisonment of company executives. They often justify this pressure by citing the companies’ own voluntary and proprietary terms of service and community standards, whose definitions of permissible speech are narrower than those encoded in their own constitutions or in the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights (ICCPR). For instance, the Israeli announcement of the agreement with Facebook came amid reports of “proposed legislation that seeks to force social networks to remove content that Israel considers to be incitement.” Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)—to which Israel is a party—permits states to limit an individual’s freedom of expression only under select circumstances, including to protect the rights or reputations of others, national security, public order, public health, or morals. These limits, however, must first meet a three-part test as defined by the ICCPR: the limits must (1) be defined by law, (2) have legitimate aim, and (3) be truly necessary. Not only does strong-arming a social media company to censor its users according to its own policies meet no such test, it also precludes real accountability of either the company or the government to its users or citizens. Israel is not alone; agreements between social media companies and the European Commission and government of Germany have made headlines and have been widely criticized by human and digital rights organizations. Nevertheless, social media companies also have an obligation to stand up to such pressuring and to make public when they are being asked to contravene the law.

Source: Facebook-Israel agreement could change face of social media – IFEX

Trump courts Adelson, flip-flops on Israel-Palestine | +972 Magazine

The candidate who claimed he was immune to influence from large donors has done a complete 180 on Israel-Palestine since securing the support of pro-Israel mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. By Eli Clifton Donald Trump has been accused of misogyny, racism, and Islamophobia as well as shifting his positions on key issues such as the Iraq War and abortion. But despite his slide to the right, he has stuck doggedly to many positions since announcing his candidacy. He still claims Mexico will pay for a wall on the U.S. border. He even continues to remind voters that he called Rosie O’Donnell “a fat pig,” even when…

Source: Trump courts Adelson, flip-flops on Israel-Palestine | +972 Magazine

IOF to temporarily close down Ibrahimi mosque for Muslims, open it for settlers – PNN

Israeli Occupation Authorities on Sunday decided to close down the Ibrahimi mosque for six days during the month of October, and open it only for Jewish Israeli settlers.Local sources in Hebron said that the mosque will be closed down for Muslims during the days (3, 4, 6, 12, 18, 19 October) while Israeli settlers will be given full privilige of entering it.In addition, IOF has been intensely preventing the Muslim call for prayers (Adan), and searching Palestinian worshippers upon entrance.

Source: IOF to temporarily close down Ibrahimi mosque for Muslims, open it for settlers – PNN