UPDATE: The Jewish Voice For Peace thanks Jon Stewart for his fair stand.
The Daily Show: Missile Tov! [Via: Too Much Cookies]
No one can imagine how irritating it is for me to still hear the Israeli government justifying their ongoing massacres in Gaza, trying to win the world’s sympathy and support by convincing them that they’re doing this in the name of self-defense, and that they NEVER mean to hurt civilians. Actually there are many silly claims that Israel seems to get away with no matter how brutal it gets, claims such as the following:
1. Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation of the Gaza Strip in 2005.
2. Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and pulled out of it unilaterally.
3. Israel claims to be pursuing peace with ‘peaceful Palestinians’.
4. Israel is acting in self-defense.
5. Israel claims to have struck military targets only.
6. Israel claims that it is attacking Hamas and not the Palestinian people.
7. Israel claims that Palestinians are the source of violence.
Read “Palestine’s Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood”, and see how Mustafa Barghouthi answers to these claims and explains that they’re nothing but a big fat lie told by Israel.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Steve for forwarding this article to me.
This great article by Robert Fisk is a must read:
“We’ve got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don’t care any more – providing we don’t offend the Israelis. It’s not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel’s side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand force”.
I really don’t know how I finally pulled myself together to be able to write these few words… since I really feel so helpless, so weak and so stupidly out of place.
Right now, and while people are preparing to celebrate the New Hijri Year, and while many more are busy and confused not knowing where or how to celebrate New Year’s Eve, thousands of Palestinians are thinking of ways to stay alive, survive getting killed in the most BARBARIC way EVER… Israeli attacks on one side, hunger, lack of fuel, power and electricity on the other, not to mention the absence of access to medical aid… and most importantly the lack of support of sane and powerfull fellow human beings.
The thought of killing innocent people in the name of “fighting terrorism” or “answering to attacks” is so revolting that I truly feel like throwing up! And what’s even more disgusting is that in the middle of all that, some regimes that are supposed to be fair and that are expected to feel a tiny bit of sympathy, are actually calling Palestinians -as usual- to “cooperate” and “stop violence” in order for peace to take place! this madness MUST STOP!
In the name of all the innocent civilians who are being brutally massacred in Gaza, I’m calling out for immediate help and support: Donate Now for medical aid in an emergency appeal for Gaza!, and if you’re Jordanian, check out this: How Jordanians Can Help the People in Gaza!
I leave you with some photos and some of what bloggers posted on the same tragedy:
[via: Bacchus]
Actually, it comes as no surprise that there were tens of posts shared on the Tunisian blogosphere addressing the attacks on Gaza. I found them all worth reading, but of course I couldn’t link to all the articles here, so I chose to link to a collection of the latest writings instead. To read all related articles you can go to Tunisie Blogs.
Arabs of Humiliation (ARABIC), by the blog of the poet Ali Liswid Almarzouqi.
Arabs decided to wage war on Israel (ARABIC), by Alaeddine Ben Abdallah.
We, Gaza, and the others (ARABIC), lovely post by Ecrits Anonymes.
Assez! (FRENCH), by Drame & Cerise.
Israel’s Bombs on the pure Arabic blood (ARABIC), by Par Tunisien, Pour les Tunisiens.
Palestine: aberration de l’Humanité (FRENCH), by Etkalem.
Halte! (FRENCH), by Barberrousse.
Will Always Be Arab (ARABIC), by MeTaLLisTiCaTiOnz.
Justice (ARABIC), by Al Hallèg.
Keep on being different, it will only be for Israel’s interest(ARABIC); a beautiful post by Andalouse.
Supporting Islamic resistance though I’m an atheist(ARABIC), another great post by 3ayechmelmarsa.
While the religions and faiths of mankind are different in so many ways, they all share the core principle of compassion, and they all agree to “The Golden Rule“: Do not do to others what you would not have done to you.
And from this belief came the idea of forming The Charter For Compassion, a collaborative project by people from all around the world, in an attempt to inspire the world to think differently about religion, recognize each other’s humanity, and to help build a peaceful and harmonious global community based on tolerance.
This project, was actually a wish made by Karen Armstrong when she won the TED Prize, a prize designed to leverage the TED Community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. It is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” And Karen’s wish was creating this Charter For Compassion.
The charter will be completed in 2009. The project’s site is open for people from all nations, all religions, all faiths, all backgrounds, to tell their own stories and share their own experiences of compassion. These contributions will then be reviewed by a Council of Sages, made up of religious thinkers and leaders, who will use them to create the final version of the Charter. The document will not only speak to the core ideas of compassion but will also address the actions all segments of society can take to bring these ideas into the world more fully. The Charter will then be signed by religious leaders of all faiths at a large launch event, followed by a series of other events to publicize and promote the Charter around the world.
The contributions are rather impressive and the stories are really touching. Visit the site to learn more about the charter and to take a look at the contributions, rate them, and even share your opinion, stories and comments with others on the site.
P.s. Thanks to my friend Mary for the tip.
“(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Amman) YouTube™, the leading online video community for people to discover, watch, and share originally created videos, today announced that Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan will be the premier recipient of the YouTube Visionary Award. Her Majesty will accept this honor in recognition of her efforts – via online video – to rid the world of the stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Arab and Muslim communities”. [The Queen’s Official Website]
[Image Source: CNN]
Although known for its care for the environment and its work to help protect it, environmental experts accused the giant coffee chain Starbucks of pouring millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops, or to be more precise, 23.4 million litres of clean water a day, which would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa, or fill an Olympic-sized pool every 83 minutes.
Apparently the chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, for “hygiene reasons”, a claim that was later dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.
I personally think there is no excuse whatsoever to waste any amount of water, let alone millions of litres per day. There are always environmental-friendly alternatives available to guarantee a healthy clean environment at any coffee shop or restaurant. If the supervisors of this chain , or any other chain for that matter, are clueless on how to keep a balance between protecting the health of their customers and protecting the environment, then I believe they should seek professional help from an environmental expert. In fact, I actually believe that there should be environmental advisors/consultants available for this specific task, as part of any work team of any chain of any kind.
Don’t you just love good creative advertising?
I came across “10 Creative Advertising Ideas from Students” via EnlargeYourPen, and will share my favorite 3 with you.
Help plant more. greenpeace.com, Sungkwon Ha
Andrew Seagrave
Jeseok Yi