Category Archives: peace

China ready to continue developing strategic partnership with Ukraine – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China is ready to further develop its strategic partnership with Ukraine on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, said Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Tuesday.

Hua told a daily press briefing that China is closely watching the developments in Ukraine, saying that under the efforts of all relevant parties, the situation in the country has begun to ease.

“We hope that the political process of resolving the crisis in Ukraine will continue to move ahead within the framework of the law,” Hua said.

via China ready to continue developing strategic partnership with Ukraine – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Settlers destroy 700 olive tree saplings near Ramallah | Maan News Agency

Extremist settlers destroyed over 700 newly planted olive tree saplings north of Ramallah on Wednesday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that a group of settlers from the illegal outpost of Ade Ad carried out the attack.

Over 700 saplings belonging to Mahmoud and Rabah Hizma were either uprooted or broken in the al-Sadir area in Turmusayya.

An identity card belonging to one of the perpetrators was found at the scene.

via Settlers destroy 700 olive tree saplings near Ramallah | Maan News Agency.

Lebanese inventor makes “alive” app for war-torn regions | Green Prophet

“I’m alive.” I’ve made that call, maybe you have too. That surreal statement instantly erases panic in whomever’s on the other end of the line.  It reconstructs a momentarily unglued world.

When I made that call, mobile phones were in their infancy, and landlines were choked by overloaded phone networks. Now a Lebanese woman has developed an app to let you get that most urgent message out loud and clear, “Hey, I am alive!”

Bombings are a frequent reality in Lebanon, and Syria, and Egypt, and Iraq. Sandra Hassan, a Lebanese-born graduate student studying abroad in Paris heard about a car bomb in a Beirut suburb; and the idea was hatched.

“It was a little bit frustrating that, in Lebanon at least, we’re living in a situation that makes such an application necessary or useful,” Hassan told National Public Radio in a recent interview. “My way to express that frustration was to publish this app, kind of as a statement against what was happening, a statement of discontent if you will.”

Lebanon was bombed several times in January, and Hassan said it was stressful trying to contact family and friends to check on their safety. So this student of public health decided to develop an app that allows users to quickly get the message out. With one click, using the internet and avoiding potentially disrupted phone networks, they can instantly tweet the message: “I am still alive!” using with the hashtags and #LatestBombing.

The app is based on Twitter, but Hassan plans updates so that it is compatible with Facebook and could work like an instant messaging independent of social media; a single click to update everyone who wants proof that you are okay.

via Lebanese inventor makes “alive” app for war-torn regions | Green Prophet.

CENSORED NEWS: Arizona Snowbowl protest photos: Today at DEW event

News as it happens from Censored News: Protest of Arizona Snowbowl, sewage water snow on sacred San Francisco Peaks, at today’s DEW event in Flagstaff, Arizona. Thank you to Dawn Dyer for sharing photos with Censored News!

via CENSORED NEWS: Arizona Snowbowl protest photos: Today at DEW event.

Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society

This is how the world must be changed, by questioning everything. We dismantle our ideas about ourselves so that we may understand others more fully. We honor ourselves by honoring each other. We question our thoughts to access the truth. We can change the world by opening up and letting go.

Perhaps you don’t believe me, perhaps you believe things are fine the way they are, that your life is as it needs to be. True, the present moment is perfect as it is, we must learn to be with things as they appear — but how many moments are you using to celebrate being alive?

For peace to exist, we must first practice peace with ourselves, we must be peaceful. For love to exist, we must first practice love with ourselves, we must be loving. If you really want to overthrow the system, put on your motorcycle jacket and start meditating.

Decide, commit, manifest. Rebel with a cause.

via Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society.

Iran, Israel and the politics of gesture – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

“Tehran considers Saudi Arabia its primary enemy, not Israel or the United States.” According to al-Rai, Hof was told this by Iranian officials in a closed-door meeting. According to Hof, he was also told that Saudi Arabia’s “intervention in the Syrian civil war on the side of the rebels poses a strategic threat to Tehran.”

The current proxy war in Syria which Iran is fighting against Saudi Arabia could have persuaded Iranian decision-makers that they should place their focus on the more immediate enemy, which in this case is the Saudis. To do this, Iran should at least try to reduce tensions, not only with the United States, but also with Israel, which, as I noted in a previous Al-Monitor article, has a number of common interests with Iran in Syria.

via Iran, Israel and the politics of gesture – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

North Korea and South Korea agree to first family reunions in over three years | News | DW.DE | 05.02.2014

South Korea\’s Unification Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the two countries would bring together families divided by the 1950-53 war for a brief visit. The last such reunion was allowed over three years ago.

Delegates from the Red Cross, South and North Korea had struck the deal during a meeting in the demilitarized zone, the Unification Ministry said. Reunions were to take place between February 20-25, it added without providing further details.

The reunion date coincides with annual military drills conducted by Seoul in partnership with the United States. Although North Korea has already called on South Korea to scrap the drills, which it described as preparation for an invasion, the government in Seoul on Wednesday said it would stand its ground.

\”The drills have been conducted annually and they simply cannot be an issue for us as far as the reunions are concerned,\” a government official in Seoul told the news agency Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

via North Korea and South Korea agree to first family reunions in over three years | News | DW.DE | 05.02.2014.

When will Korea and US end war, militarism, separation? Or does everyone have too much invested in permanent war?

www.german-foreign-policy.com – Rewriting history again and blame Serbs for WW One?

Insane? Yes and no. No, because their are Germans, like Japanese counterparts, who cannot seems to feel good about themselves or their future, unless they can pretend that they were not so bad in the past – bunkum, is still bunkum and grounds for new Hitlers!

New Debate on the Responsibility for War

2014/02/04

BERLIN

(Own report) – In the few months leading up to the one-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War I, a new debate, over who was responsible for starting the war, is gaining momentum in Germany. As relevant publications – such as the bestseller, \”The Sleepwalkers\” by the historian Christopher Clark – show, \”a shift in paradigm has taken place\” in scholarship, according to a recent press article: \”The German Empire was not \’responsible\’ for World War I.\” The debate strongly contradicts the recognition that, even though Berlin did not bear it alone, it bore the primary responsibility for the bloody escalation of the 1914 July Crisis. This insight, which was derived particularly from the analyses of the historian Fritz Fischer in the 1960s, is now being massively contested. Historians are strongly criticizing remarks, such as those by Christopher Clark, who, working closely with government-affiliated academic institutions, is denying German responsibility for the war. According to Clark, \”the Serbs\” are supposedly a priori \”the bad guys\” of the pre war era, while he openly displays his preference for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The denial of Germany\’s main culpability for the war is \”balm on the soul of educated social sectors, grown more self-confident\” at a time when Berlin\’s political power is again on the rise.

via www.german-foreign-policy.com.

Interview with German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Von der Leyen: The main focus will be on Mali. Already, the Bundeswehr is training African soldiers in Mali and is assisting in the establishment of an army. Currently, the maximum number allowed by the mandate is 180 troops, 99 soldiers are there. We can strengthen this engagement and our allies, the French first and foremost, expect as much. I can imagine increasing the mandate to 250. In addition, European Union foreign ministers last week cleared the way for a Central Africa mission. Now we have to ensure transparency regarding this mission. The chancellor, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and I completely agree that it should not become a German combat operation. But the Bundeswehr, with its MedEvac Airbus for example, possesses the special capability of rapidly treating and evacuating the wounded. Should no other ally be able to make this capability available, we should offer to do so. A precondition for such a mission, however, is that the Bangui airport be secured. It is also clear that an expansion of the Mali mission and the aid for Central Africa would each require a parliamentary mandate. Ultimate control of the Bundeswehr lies with parliament.

via Interview with German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen – SPIEGEL ONLINE.