Category Archives: human rights

Gloria Steinem On Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, & Beyonce’s Daring Feminism: Gothamist

Why do you think it’s important that we elect Hillary Clinton? Well, setting gender aside, because obviously I wouldn’t vote for Sarah Palin, she may be the most experienced and effective candidate we’ve ever had. I can’t think of another presidential candidate who has had the kind of experience she has. Also from her Wellesley graduation speech, to her struggle for health care, she’s always been out there. Neither she, nor you, nor I, agrees with everything that emerges from a democratic process. She knows how to go in there and make it better than it would have been without her.

Source: Gloria Steinem On Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, & Beyonce’s Daring Feminism: Gothamist

OAS pressure on Venezuela ′a pretext to remove Maduro?′ | Americas | DW.COM | 01.06.2016 – “Let Venezuela settle it’s own politics – no more coups!”

A suspension of Venezuela’s membership in the Organization of American States will not end the country’s crisis overnight, says expert, but it might unsettle Maduro’s presidency – in one or another way.

Source: OAS pressure on Venezuela ′a pretext to remove Maduro?′ | Americas | DW.COM | 01.06.2016

Former Trump University Workers Call the School a ‘Lie’ and a ‘Scheme’ in Testimony – The New York Times – “Real story is the trillion or two that similar for-profit “universities” have bilked from low-income students using government-backed student loans.”

In blunt testimony revealed on Tuesday, former managers of Trump University, the for-profit school started by Donald J. Trump, portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay tens of thousands for Mr. Trump’s insights. One sales manager for Trump University, Ronald Schnackenberg, recounted how he was reprimanded for not pushing a financially struggling couple hard enough to sign up for a $35,000 real estate class, despite his conclusion that it would endanger their economic future. He watched with disgust, he said, as a fellow Trump University salesman persuaded the couple to purchase the class anyway. “I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme,” Mr. Schnackenberg wrote in his testimony, “and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.”

Source: Former Trump University Workers Call the School a ‘Lie’ and a ‘Scheme’ in Testimony – The New York Times

Video of the Day: 100 Years of Hijab as Political Defiance

It surprises me how in the most liberal of feminist American spaces, there remains incredible discomfort — if not outright bigotry and discrimination — towards women who choose to wear a headscarf. As a Muslim woman who does not wear a headscarf and is often read as racially (and religiously) ambiguous, I’ve been around far too many self-proclaimed liberals and feminists who feel comfortable indulging their racism around me—commenting on how Muslim women are oppressed, naive, brainwashed, being beaten by scary brown and black men, and/or suffering from intense mind control by choosing to cover their hair. Other times, parents of white friends (or white friends themselves) will connect my lack of a headscarf to progressivism, labeling me as a “good” Muslim woman who is politically sharp enough not to adorn the hijab.Well I do adorn hijab. Almost every day. I cover most of my legs, arms, and try to wear loose clothing. The Qur’an requires men and women to wear hijab—or dress modestly—but does not specify exactly what covering up looks like. Muslims are not a monolith (surprise!) and therefore differ on what modesty requires, meaning that there are a variety of practices in different cultures and countries: for some, including my family, hijab means a headscarf, for others like myself, it means wanting to wear a headscarf but not feeling safe enough to do so in their home country. For others it means a style of dress that includes a niqab (face covering), abaya (loose black gown), or none of the above.

Source: Video of the Day: 100 Years of Hijab as Political Defiance

Israelis are no longer buying what Netanyahu is selling | +972 Magazine

It’s not just a change in the people running the country. It’s not just the fact that people no longer want to work with him, including diehard rightists. It is the fundamental psychological change taking place here over the past few weeks, which signals one thing: Netanyahu is no longer able to tell the story of Israel. His point of view, the story he is trying to sell — the Holocaust and the Mufti — are no longer the point of view of most Israelis. At least not entirely. This is a drastic change from the past few decades. Things we must pay attention to: Netanyahu’s story of “widening the coalition” has turned into the story of Ya’alon’s resignation and the appointment of a defense minister whom nearly every Israeli (and non-Israeli) prefers didn’t get the job. If Israelis wanted Liberman as a top political leader, his party would not have just barely passed the election threshold. Never has a prime minister appointed a defuse minister so beyond the consensus, and the Israeli public understood this immediately. This is the most important failure in Bibi’s story. The story that an Arab attacked dozens of policemen in Tel Aviv didn’t work either: Israelis know that their police force is violent, and that appointing Roni Alsheikh to police commissioner was a poor choice. And even at the end of last week, when Netanyahu tried to connect the “Left” and the “media” to a horrifying case of rape (this is the prime minister of Israel), Minister Avi Gabai, one of the most honest and respected people in the government, announced that he was resigning, explicitly saying it was due to the danger of appointing Liberman. Including those same “trends” that Deputy Chief of the General Staff Yair Golan warned against last month. The story is everything. And Netanyahu can no longer tell the story like he could in the past. This is wonderful news; for the first time in a decade, there is a feeling that fewer and fewer people feel the need to protect him, while more people no longer believe his lies or theatrics. Honest rightists such as Moshe Ya’alon and Moseh Arens, Avi Gabai and Orly Levy are saying “enough is enough.” And I believe, perhaps, that we are closer to the end than it seems.

Source: Israelis are no longer buying what Netanyahu is selling | +972 Magazine

Muslim families shouldn′t use birth control, says Erdogan | News | DW.COM | 30.05.2016

Turkey’s president has slammed family planning, calling for an increase in “descendents.” The leader has previously faced criticism for urging mothers to have at least three children and calling birth control “treason.”

Source: Muslim families shouldn′t use birth control, says Erdogan | News | DW.COM | 30.05.2016

A Girl from a Nairobi Slum Issues a Resonant Call for Post-Tribal Unity in Kenya – The New York Times

Shanize’s poem of unity: It is very sad what’s happening to our country. Imagine. A nation that is known to be safe – no violence – now turned into a nation living in fear. No security. Why does it have to come down to this? Religions. You have grown up together. The Kikuyu, M’Kamba, Luo, Abalughya and others. Why do you want to fight each other? As Kenyans, youth – Christian and Muslim – we should stand up as one and say no to violence, no to terrorism, no to instability and live as one. Let no one convince you to pick up a panga, a gun, grenades, bombs, and harm one another. No one has the right to take anyone’s life. Stand up. Get up. Show up. And say no to violence, no to terrorism, no to instability, and live as one.

Source: A Girl from a Nairobi Slum Issues a Resonant Call for Post-Tribal Unity in Kenya – The New York Times

Israeli extremist settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque – PNN

Hordes of Israeli extremist settlers stormed on early Sunday morning the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, via the Maghareba Gate. The break-in was carried out under heavy escort by Israeli soldiers and special police troops. The fanatic Israeli settlers reportedly performed provocative rituals and chanted anti-Muslim slogans. A group of Muslim women have been maintaining vigil outside the al-Aqsa after the Israeli occupation police prevented them from entering the Mosque to perform their prayers. Tension has been running high in Occupied Jerusalem as Israeli fanatics stepped up assaults on the al-Aqsa Mosque. Observers said the break-ins make part of Israeli intents to Judaize the mosque and divide it spatially and temporally between Muslims and Jews.

Source: Israeli extremist settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque – PNN

Pope says migrants are ′not dangerous, but in danger′ | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016

Holding a life jacket from a young migrant girl who perished at sea, Pope Francis on Saturday told hundreds of children at the Vatican that migrants “are not dangerous, but in danger.” The pontiff told the Italian children and migrants that a rescue worker in the Mediterranean had given him the life jacket after he failed to save the young girl’s life. “He brought me this life jacket and, crying a little bit, he said: ‘Father, I failed. There was a little girl in the sea and I wasn’t able to save her. All I could reach was her life jacket,'” Pope Francis said. “I don’t want to upset you, but you are brave and you know the truth. They are in danger: many children… they are in danger,” the pontiff told the children. “Think about this girl. What was her name? I don’t know: a child without a name. Each of you must give her the name you want to. She is in heaven, she is watching over us,” he added.

Source: Pope says migrants are ′not dangerous, but in danger′ | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016

WHO says ′no public health justification′ for postponing Olympics over Zika virus | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016 – Deja vu Ebola Fail… economic and politics before public health by member states of WHO!

WHO noted, however, that people continue to travel between countries with the virus. There are also those who do not travel, for a number of other reasons. WHO has already urged pregnant women not to attend the games and in February called the virus a global health concern. The health experts questioned a possible conflict of interest because of WHO’s relationship with the International Olympics Committee. They called for an unbiased, evidence-based assessment to guide the UN health body. Moving the Olympics in such a short time period is not practical and cancelling or postponing the games would entail massive economic losses.

Source: WHO says ′no public health justification′ for postponing Olympics over Zika virus | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016