Category Archives: Viva!

U.S. Women Go From Gaffe to Gold in 4×100 Relay – The New York Times

Allyson Felix and Tori Bowie powered the defending champions past the Jamaicans, who won silver.

Source: U.S. Women Go From Gaffe to Gold in 4×100 Relay – The New York Times

Burkini ban: The garment’s Australian designer says the French are ‘digging a hole’ for themselves – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Ms Zanetti said that was out-dated thinking, because women were the ones making the decision to buy the swimwear.”I think he is digging a hole for himself where women will be purchasing the garment no matter what,” she said.”If they are banning them in their beaches, [women] should be holidaying in Australia.”The Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) last week filed a complaint against the bans.The group’s spokesman Marwan Muhammad said they restricted fundamental liberties and discriminated against Muslim women. “This summer we are witnessing a hysterical political Islamophobia that pits citizens against one another,” he said.

Source: Burkini ban: The garment’s Australian designer says the French are ‘digging a hole’ for themselves – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons – The Washington Post

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the decision on Thursday in a memo that instructs officials to either decline to renew the contracts for private prison operators when they expire or “substantially reduce” the contracts’ scope. The goal, Yates wrote, is “reducing — and ultimately ending — our use of privately operated prisons.”“They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Yates wrote.

Source: Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons – The Washington Post

Meet Palestine’s animal rights activists | +972 Magazine

Ahmad Safi, a PAL employee, gave us a presentation about their work. I was amazed by the amount of knowledge he had on animals in Palestine. He told us about their rescue operation to save animals from Gaza’s Khan Younis zoo who hadn’t eaten for 52 days during the 2014 Gaza War, and on treating working animals: the volunteers go to villages where donkeys and horses work the land, vaccinate them and instruct the owners about treating them respectfully.They also have a campaign to raise awareness among children about their pets.“We have to break the cycle of violence,” he said. “We have to tell these kids that what they see the occupation doing – killings, incursions and raids into their villages and schools – is not a natural reality. This violence eventually comes out on defenseless animals, and kids think it’s all right because violence is king. Everybody harms the weaker, and animals are an easy target.”“We try to convey to them that we are all living creatures, and we all have feelings – animals and human beings alike, “Sham, a volunteer, explains. “The same way we fear a tank or an armed soldier, they do too. We are under the occupation together, and therefore should help every living creature.”“It says so in the Qura,” Jiwa adds.Our ancestors didn’t eat meatI ask them whether they are vegan – khudaryat, in Arabic, meaning “herbivores.”“Sort of,” says Siham. “I barely eat meat. Since I became involved in this I noticed I don’t like the taste that much.”“I am vegetarian,” says Dana. “I gradually stopped eating murdered stuff, I can’t put in my mouth something that was once living.Sham says she does not proselytize or try to enforce anything on her family. “Palestinian cooking has so many vegetables. Even if they eat meat and I eat salad and rice, I’m happy.”“So many vegetables, yes,” adds Jiwa. “And how can you open a cafeteria without falafel? It has all the iron and protein that you need. Who needs shawarma?”“But meat is a requirement at any special meal,” I say. “Look at the iftar meal after Ramadan. Is there an Arab dinner party anywhere that doesn’t have meat?”“That’s right, Safi says. “We were taught meat was prestigious. But what did our ancestors eat? Plants and vegetables. They ate meat only once a week because they couldn’t afford it. Meat-eaters were considered the rich ones, that’s why it took over our diet. The meat industry here uses hormones profusely, we learned that from Israel. The owner of one of the biggest chicken farms in Palestine said that he learned from Israelis how to feed his chickens a mixture of chicken meat leftovers, intestines, hormones, antibiotics and some seeds, instead of the regular food, to make them fat quickly, and cash in on it. Since when did Palestinian farmers start growing chickens like that? It’s all about the money. Jews and Palestinians want to be as rich as they can.”

Source: Meet Palestine’s animal rights activists | +972 Magazine

Feeling honored)

نادية حرحش

Honor List

Congressman Paul Findley published a book in the 1970s called “They Dare to Speak Out”.  He listed many examples of courageous individuals who speak truth to power with regard to US policy in the Middle East.  Speaking out against Israeli occupation, oppression, and apartheid is not cost free but the reward of being able to live with one’s conscience is priceless.  This list is just a sampling of names of people we consider with honor for heir honest and truthful stand for peace with justice:
Examples of Individuals with good work for peace with justice (please send names of/info on others you think should be listed to mazin at qumsiyeh dot org)

http://qumsiyeh.org/honorlist/

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Here’s Why Simone Manuel Needed to Bring Up Race At the Olympics | Dame Magazine

The sight of our happiness, achievements and success disrupt the entrenched dehumanization of black girls and women. The only thing more disconcerting than #BlackGirlJoy is #BlackGirlRage. It is no wonder that many are mad that Black women athletes are using their platform to speak truth to power.“I feel unsafe all the time. I had someone follow me home from practice and try to report me to police,” noted Ibtihaj Muhammad, a Black Muslim American women and the first Olympian to wear a hijab. “I’m very vocal about these things because I want people to know I’m not a novelty, I’m not special in any way, I’m a woman who wears hijab and these are my experiences.”Her comments sparked outrage on social media from the Trumpian corner of the nation, which described her comments as “shameful” and “insulting.”The collective voices of Simone, Gabby, Muhammad, and others deepen the power in showcasing talent, skill and dominance, along with one’s political voice. In that spirit of resistance, Manuel, Muhammad, countless women on the USA basketball team, are using their athletic talents and voices to make clear that Black Lives Matter, that Black humanity must be seen, and Black genius is everywhere. In doing so, these Black women are carrying on a proud tradition of Black women at the Olympics who have not been afraid to speak up about racism at a time when much of America wishes they would pretend that their nation’s original sin of slavery and its racist legacies didn’t exist, especially when the eyes and ears of the world are upon them. Their work is reminiscent of the iconic moment when gold-medalist sprinter Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the American national anthem at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City—a move that was heavily criticized at the time, but has now become a treasured moment in American sports and Civil Rights history.Once again, Black women are giving the world language about protest, freedom and humanity. Only this time—unlike in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements—their voices and views are front and center. As with Black Lives Matter, and protests from Ferguson to Baltimore, from New York to Los Angeles, it is young Black women, who are visibly organizing for justice and change.

Source: Here’s Why Simone Manuel Needed to Bring Up Race At the Olympics | Dame Magazine

Egyptian Aak 2016, Week 32 ( Aug 8-14)

Egyptian MPs slam new British guidance on granting Brotherhood members political asylum

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Egypt-IMF reach staff-level agreement on a Three-year US$12 Bln  fund facility 
  • After IMF deal, Egypt’s Sisi says will not hesitate on tough reforms
  • Egypt inflation rate at 14.8% in July
  • Egypt sets jail as punishment for black market forex trading

Main Headlines

Monday

Tuesday

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