Category Archives: human rights

“The Settlers”: New Film Reveals History & Consequences of Israeli Settlements on Palestinian Land | Democracy Now!

As Israel faces international condemnation over its plan to build 153 new settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the watchdog group Peace Now reports Israel’s defense minister has approved the construction of the new Jewish-only homes last week. The plan sparked swift criticism from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called the settlements “an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community.” In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Ban Ki-moon’s criticism gives “a tailwind to terrorism” and that the “U.N. lost its neutrality and moral force a long time ago.”

Source: “The Settlers”: New Film Reveals History & Consequences of Israeli Settlements on Palestinian Land | Democracy Now!

ASIA/PHILIPPINES – Muslims fighting Isis: “sign of sincerity” says a missionary

Zamboanga – “It is a very positive step. It demonstrates the sincerity of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the search for peace”: this is how Fr. Angel Calvo, a Claretian missionary, for several decades in Mindanao, who today lives in the city of Zamboanga, in the extreme south of the Philippines, judges the public statement of the Islamic movement that has decided to actively cooperate with the government to stop the spread of the Islamic State in the southern Philippines.In the southern Philippines, where there is a large Muslim community, Isis is trying to recruit new fighters and contaminate local groups.”Today, Isis is the brand that works. Small local radical groups like the ideology of Isis, although I do not believe this is an alarming situation, because these are small isolated incidents”, said Fr. Calvo. “The position taken by the formations that historically represent Islam Filipino, such as the MILF, and by many other Islamic leaders, makes it clear that the Muslim community in the southern Philippines rejects the poisoning that Isis tries to accomplish”.”MILF is fully committed to the peace process. It is a long, slow process, and you have to have patience. After the agreement signed with the government of Benigno Aquino, the present Parliament has not ratified it yet. The issue has been postponed to the new government that will take office after the elections of May 2016″, concludes the missionary.

Source: ASIA/PHILIPPINES – Muslims fighting Isis: “sign of sincerity” says a missionary

Danes in ‘historic’ flight from Social Democrats over asylum – The Local

 Social Democrats leader Mette Frederiksen. Photo Thomas Lekfeldt/Scanpix

 

Danes in ‘historic’ flight from Social Democrats over asylum

A new poll shows a “historic” drop in voter support for the Social Democrats, with eight of ten voters who jumped ship saying they left the party over its hard-line position on asylum and immigration.

A Megafon poll showed that the Social Democrats plummeted seven percentage points, going from 26.3 percent support in November to just 19.3 percent this week.  The drop was so significant that Megafon conducted an extra poll just to make sure the numbers hadn’t lied.  “The poll shows an historic large drop in support for the Social Democrats. The drop is so big that we have to go all the way back to 1998 to see anything similar,” Megafon CEO Asger Nielsen told TV2.  Measured by parliamentary seats, the poll would mean that the Social Democrats would go from their current 47 down to 34.  The reason for the drop in support was clear. Voters rejected the party’s hard lurch to the right on immigration and asylum policies.  “We asked everyone who left the Social Democrats in the poll to explain why and when I looked at all of the explanations, for 80 percent of them the refugee situation was the clear reason,” Nielsen told Politiken.  Earlier this week, the Social Democrats were the only ‘red bloc’ party to vote in favour of Denmark’s controversial asylum package, which among other things allows for the confiscation of cash and valuables from refugees and will make some refugees wait three years before they can even apply to bring their families to Denmark.

Source: Danes in ‘historic’ flight from Social Democrats over asylum – The Local

Marrakech Declaration looked to the Charter of Medina – eliminate any topic that incites aggression and extremism, bringing war and chaos

Rabat (Agenzia Fides) – An appeal to develop an Islamic jurisprudence on the concept of citizenship, that is inclusive of all groups, was signed on January 27 by 250 leading Islamic scholars gathered in Marrakech, at the invitation of the Ministry of Promotion and Islamic Business of Morocco and the Forum for the Promotion of Peace in Islamic societies, based in the United Arab Emirates. According to a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, the Marrakech Declaration looked to the Charter of Medina. This year marks the 1,400 anniversary of the Charter of Medina, “a constitutional contract between the Prophet Muhammad and the people of Medina, which guaranteed the religious liberty of all, regardless of faith”. Besides asking scholars and Muslim intellectuals to develop the concept of citizenship in Islamic jurisprudence, it launches an appeal to educational institutions for “a courageous review of educational curricula, to eliminate any topic that incites aggression and extremism, bringing war and chaos”; and to politicians to “establish a constitutional contractual relationship among its citizens”. It finally calls upon the various religious groups bound by the same national fabric to address their mutual state of selective amnesia that blocks memories of centuries of joint and shared living on the same land, and to reject any form of denigration of the other. The Marrakech Declaration concludes that it is “unconscionable to employ religion for the purpose of aggressing upon the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries”. At the meeting in Marrakech fifty leaders of other religions were present who expressed their gratitude for the Declaration. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/01/2016)

Source: Agenzia Fides News

Burns Paiute Tribal Chairwoman Releases Statement on Tuesday’s Death and Arrests of Domestic Terrorists – Native News Online

One day after the death of one of the domestic terrorists and arrest of another eight, including group leader Ammon Bundy, near the remote town of Burns, Oregon, the Burns Paiute Tribe Chairwoman Charlotte Roderique released the following statement to Native News Online:“We are deeply saddened that some of the armed protestors chose violence. It did not have to be this way, but it was their choice. Gun violence has not place in our community. Let’s hope those who remain at the Malheur Refuge will make a difference choice and end this peaceably.

Source: Burns Paiute Tribal Chairwoman Releases Statement on Tuesday’s Death and Arrests of Domestic Terrorists – Native News Online

Humans of Amsterdam — “Would you mind if I delivered a message to your…

“Would you mind if I delivered a message to your followers?”

“Not at all..”

“I just want them to know that a mental disorder can happen to anyone and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I have learned that’s okay to feel sad and anxious but please make sure to ask for help because if you don’t.. it might be too late.”

Source: Humans of Amsterdam — “Would you mind if I delivered a message to your…

Sexism and Islam: ‘Where I’m From, This is Handled By Men’ – SPIEGEL ONLINE

The New Year’s Eve attacks on women in Cologne have led to a new discussion within Germany about the treatment of women in Islamic societies. The issue has become central to the country’s heated refugee debate. By SPIEGEL Staff

Source: Sexism and Islam: ‘Where I’m From, This is Handled By Men’ – SPIEGEL ONLINE

First Muslim woman in space uses tech to help others achieve their dreams | The Memo

Anoushesh is well-established on the tech scene, starting her first internet telecommunications company back in 1993, the year of the first web browser, and later co-founding device-connecting platform Prodea Systems in 2006.Anousheh Ansari, the first Muslim woman in space. Pic: NASANow, in a new inspiring project, the computer scientist is using her company’s innovative technology to further empower people in remote and rural areas in India.“I go to rural Rajasthan, and there’s a 4G network,” Ansari said. But many people don’t have the devices to access the internet, she explained.The entrepreneur is now currently rolling out technology that turns TVs into two-way communication screens with internet access.

Source: First Muslim woman in space uses tech to help others achieve their dreams | The Memo

No need to panic about the Zika virus | Sci-Tech | DW.COM | 27.01.2016

For a healthy grown-up who isn’t pregnant, Zika doesn’t pose much of a threat. Common symptoms include fever, joint ache and a rash with small red spots. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts it pretty clearly: “The illness is usually mild… Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. Deaths are rare.”Compare that to Ebola, which comes with vomiting and unexplained bleeding and killed more than 11,300 people in the recent West-Africa outbreak, and you’ll see that Zika isn’t quite that bad.Some tourists have already brought the virus back to their European home countries from vacation without any major consequences. According to the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), there have been ten cases reported in Germany since 2013.The dpa also mentions four cases in Italy, three in Great Britain and two in Spain, though those numbers are probably incorrect, since there’s no international protocol for reporting and recording the virus, Schmidt-Chanasit said. More people could have been infected without ever knowing: the CDC reports that only one in five people infected with the virus actually become ill.Dangerous birth defect In hospitals like this one in Recife, Brazil, more and more babies are born with mircrocephalyAll that is not to say that Zika is completely harmless. The virus has been connected to an exceptional high number of babies born with microcephaly in Brazil. In the most recent Zika outbreak, around 4,000 newborns were diagnosed with the birth defect. Their skulls are smaller than those of healthy babies, which leads to brain damage.

Source: No need to panic about the Zika virus | Sci-Tech | DW.COM | 27.01.2016

British Muslim women hit back at Cameron′s ′submissive′ comments | Europe | DW.COM | 27.01.2016

Muslim women are tweeting their achievements to David Cameron, after he allegedly said their “traditional submissiveness” can lead to young men’s radicalization. Cameron’s comments were met with criticism online. Last week, a British newspaper quoted a comment allegedly made by British Prime Minister David Cameron during a private conversation during which he reportedly said that the “traditional submissiveness of Muslim women” can facilitate the radicalization of young men. The quote came as Cameron’s government had made public claims that over a quarter of Muslim women in Britain do not speak a good English.

Source: British Muslim women hit back at Cameron′s ′submissive′ comments | Europe | DW.COM | 27.01.2016