Category Archives: human rights

www.german-foreign-policy.com – German Militarism and Japanese Militarism – Deja Vu by Default?

War Rather than Policy

In reference to the current “arc of crisis,” the “European Security Strategy” adopted in Brussels in December 2003, stated: “Our task is to promote a ring of well governed countries to the East of the European Union and on the borders of the Mediterranean with whom we can enjoy close and cooperative relations” – a rampart of controllable, stable client states surrounding a prosperous EU.[12] This objective has been completely missed, concluded Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference at the beginning of this year. The “vision of a European Union that would be surrounded by a cordon sanitaire of stability, growing prosperity and cooperation south of the Mediterranean and in Eastern Europe,” has “completely failed.”[13] To shield the German-European empire from all sorts of problems and facilitate economic access to interesting neighboring regions, soldiers are now being deployed in the respective countries, ranging from Mali and Syria to Iraq – for the wars of the near future.How the Bundeswehr is preparing for the wars of the near future by growing larger, restructuration, and rearmament, can be read in an intermittent succession of articles over the next few weeks in german-foreign-policy.com.

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

This Grocery Clerk Might Be Everest’s Greatest Female Climber – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Back in 2000, Lhakpa Sherpa finished her first expedition to the top of Mount Everest becoming the first Nepali woman to make it to the top and back down alive. This was only the start to her successful journeys, to the top of the Sagarmatha. Yes, “journeys”. By that we mean she has conquered the 8,000 meter behemoth a total of 6 times. She went on expeditions each year from 2000 to 2006.The profile talks of Lhakpa’s childhood, growing up in Nepal at nearly 4000 meters. And how when she started climbing, her first summits were two 6,000 meter ranges, Mera and Yala and then the 8,000 meter ranges of the Everest. But this was over a decade ago and surely a woman who has climbed the Everest half a dozen times must be a somewhat recognised figure, right? Wrong.The most successful female climber lives in Hartford, Connecticut in the US and works two jobs, one as a cashier and another as a housekeeper. She has three children and is also a single mother. She just finalised her divorce from her husband George Dijmarescu and obtained full custody of her daughters. A common Google search on Lhakpa Sherpa barely churns out a hand full of pictures and some thin articles but none highlighting her enormous achievements. Unsurprisingly fellow champion climber and abusive husband Dijmarescu yields better search results for himself than Lhakpa. These results include stories from fellow climbers about Dijmarescu hitting Lhakpa and her teenaged sister during a climb. And a decade of violence and fear at home is partly why Lhakpa is said to have courted the shadows in the last few years.Lhakpa’s obscurity is also a reflection of how Sherpa climbers are viewed as a collective and nothing more than a homogenous, anonymous workforce, to support the glorious individualistic pursuits of First World Climbers.Most recently Lhakpa tried to climb the Everest in 2010, she was forced to quit halfway due to the bad weather. She is reportedly preparing for her next expedition and is looking forward to conquering the mountain one more time.

Source: This Grocery Clerk Might Be Everest’s Greatest Female Climber – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Sectarianism & Islamophobia: Jounieh Wants To Become The “Christian Capital” of Lebanon | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

In the face of such disgusting slogans, I invite this blog’s followers who vote in Jounieh to refuse such hateful, xenophobic notions and to vote for the list opposing “Karamet Jounieh” on Sunday, which is the list calling itself “Jounieh El Tajaddod.”At a time when Christians in Beirut refused to be treated with the hateful, segregating rhetoric that Karamet Jounieh is giving its people in Jounieh by voting for Beirut Madinati, the last thing we need in this country is for such divisive talk to be center stage in any elections. Less fear and hate, more tolerance.

Source: Sectarianism & Islamophobia: Jounieh Wants To Become The “Christian Capital” of Lebanon | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Most Israeli Jews think there’s no occupation. So what is it? | +972 Magazine

If “occupation” is the wrong word to describe a reality in which Palestinians can, with no power to object, be kicked out of their homes for a few hours or a few days at a time so that the Israeli army can come and play war games in their backyards — what is the correct word? How do you classify a regime that considers a gathering of 10 or more people to be an “illegal assembly,” and which responds by arresting, beating or shooting the participants? Or how about a daily existence in which every entry and exit requires military approval and is scrutinized, logged and tracked unfailingly? And when that military authority can take away freedom of movement as a means of collective punishment — what is that called? In a manner of speaking, you can call this state of affairs anything you like: an occupation by any other name would still be as unjust. But that is precisely the point behind this poll finding — the denial and argument here is not, despite what it may seem, over semantics. At the heart of the matter is whether one believes that Israel’s military rule over 2.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank, and its siege on 1.8 million Gazans, are just or not. So where do you stand?

Source: Most Israeli Jews think there’s no occupation. So what is it? | +972 Magazine

Deadly Algal Bloom Triggers Social Uprising in Southern Chile | Inter Press Service

The union headed by Villarroel represents 35 fishers who mainly catch the Chilean blue mussel (Mytilus chilensis), Chilean abalone (Concholepas concholepas), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and the surf clam (Mesodesma donacium). All of these have been contaminated by the red tide. In previous outbreaks, “the seaweed hadn’t been contaminated, but now it has been. We’ve never seen that before,” Villarroel said. He believes the salmon companies “have destroyed the marine system and seabed.” The protests, which have included the burning of tires and clashes with the police, worry the government of socialist President Michelle Bachelet, which offered 1,100 dollars indemnification each for 5,500 artisanal fishers, to be paid in four installments, subject to the evolution of the red tide. The compensation, which also included a basket of basic foodstuffs worth 37 dollars, was rejected by union leaders, who argued that the amount was too small and that it wasn’t being paid to all of the affected fishers. In a new 28-point list of demands, they demanded the payment of 2,650 dollars in six installments, cancellation of their debts, and the declaration of a large part of Chiloé as a “disaster zone”. They also called for greater regional control of local natural resources, lower fuel prices, a special regional minimum wage, guaranteed public health coverage, and a regional university. Most scientists blame the red tide on climate change, which drove up water temperatures and caused an increase in algae and toxins.

Source: Deadly Algal Bloom Triggers Social Uprising in Southern Chile | Inter Press Service

Moroccan Women Continue the Fight for Rights | wnn interviews global

As a result, over the past two decades, Moroccan women have fought for and won the right to divorce and the right to be the equals of men under the law. Morocco has women in top positions. They are ministers or Members of Parliament (MPs) and participate in major decisions. We managed to create a lobby of women MPs to support women’s rights, including the revision of discriminatory laws and the proposal of a quota to ensure women’s access to elected offices. Great progress has been made; and today, Morocco is hailed as one of the most progressive Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa on women’s issues. It is true that obstacles persist, including resistance from people whose mentality has not yet changed. Last month, for example, the women’s and human rights community was deeply disappointed when Morocco’s parliament passed a women’s rights bill that – despite years of demands from NGOs and activists — failed to criminalize marital rape, among other shortcomings. The social, political, and economic rights of Moroccan women still have not been fully realized. But we cannot give up and say that it’s over. We are and must continue to be vigilant. As an example, we are continuing to lobby parliament to bring amendments to the bill to fight against violence against women. As women, we do not have a day of rest, a moment of relief, in our struggle for equality; our fight for fairness and freedom goes on, day in and day out. Some battles are won, and some are lost, but we continue. I have made the fight for the rights of women my life. Every day, every moment, wherever I am, I fight for women to be free. And when a battered woman wins her case in court; when a woman who has come to you in the past in desperate straits calls to tell you that the judge has sentenced her abusive husband to prison—the rewards are worth the fight.

Source: Moroccan Women Continue the Fight for Rights | wnn interviews global

Spain: Podemos and United Left launch alliance ahead of new vote | Green Left Weekly

Spain’s anti-austerity party Podemos and older left-wing party United Left announced on May 9 that they had reached a preliminary agreement to run on a joint platform before Spain’s new general election on June 26.In a statement, party representatives said the alliance aimed to “recover the country” in favor of the “working classes and social majorities.” Both parties said they would consult their members on May 10 and 11 to formalise the arrangement.Spain’s last election, in December, failed to give any party enough seats to form a government, and five months of talks among the parties have not led to a governing coalition.A survey released on May 6 showed voters were still not inclined to revert to the two-party system that has dominated Spanish politics for the past 40 years, and are likely to spread their votes among 10 different parties .The survey also suggested Podemos was losing support before the coming election. However, an alliance between Podemos and United Left would leave the two parties with about 23% of the vote, making them the main left-wing force, ahead of the once-dominant Socialists but behind the conservative People’s Party of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.Another survey found that the alliance would be the first choice for people under than 55.

Source: Spain: Podemos and United Left launch alliance ahead of new vote | Green Left Weekly

One Of Trump\’s California Delegates Is The Leader Of A White Nationalist Party

“Donald Trump is the candidate that will Make America Hate Again.”

Source: One Of Trump\’s California Delegates Is The Leader Of A White Nationalist Party

“I just hope to show how I can be mainstream and have these views,” Johnson told Mother Jones. “I can be a white nationalist and be a strong supporter of Donald Trump and be a good example to everybody.” He also said that when applying to be a delegate, he did not use the phrase “white nationalist” but did disclose his background and activism.

According to their website, the American Freedom Party’s platform calls for white Americans to “push back” and says the party “shares the customs and heritage of the European American people.” The Southern Poverty Law Center considers the AFP to be a hate group and says it was “initially established by racist Southern California skinheads [and] aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule.” The SPLC is a little less generous to Johnson, calling him “an uninspiring but determined white supremacist.”

Obama’s Take on Revolution

Democracy requires compromise, even when you are 100% right. This is hard to explain sometimes. You can be completely right and you still have to engage folks who disagree with you. If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral security, but you will not get what you want.

Source: Obama’s Critique of Sanders

Egyptian Aak 2016- Week 18 ( May 2-8) — Nervana

Top Headlines Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El-Sakka. Monday Egyptian papers begin publishing interior minister’s photo in negative. Wednesday Espionage case of former President Mohamed Morsi has been adjourned. Saturday Egyptian policemen killed in an ambush South of Cairo, several groups including ISIS claimed responsibility. Sunday Main Headlines Monday Egyptian […]

via Egyptian Aak 2016- Week 18 ( May 2-8) — Nervana