courageous

Erase my grandfather's name at Yad Vashem

by Jean-Moïse Braitberg

Mr. President of the State of Israel, I am writing to you to intervene with the appropriate authorities to withdraw, from the Yad Vashem memorial dedicated to the memory of Jewish victims of Nazism, the name of my grandfather, Moshe Brajtberg, gassed at Treblinka in 1943, and those of other members of my who family died during deportation to various Nazi camps during World War II. I ask you to honor my request, Mr. Chairman, because what took place in Gaza, and more generally, the injustices to the Arab people of Palestine for sixty years, disqualifies Israel to be the center of the memory of the harm done to Jews, and thus to all humanity.

You see, since my childhood, I lived in amongst survivors of the death camps. I saw the numbers tattooed on their arms, I heard the story of torture; I knew the impossible grief and I shared their nightmares. I was taught that these crimes must never happen again, that never again must man, because of ethnicity or religion despise other man, mock his Human Rights of living a safe, dignified life, without barriers, and hope, so remote be it, of a future of peace and prosperity.

Yet Mr. President, I note that despite dozens of resolutions adopted by the international community, despite the glaring evidence of the injustices done to the Palestinian people since 1948, despite the hopes raised in Oslo, and despite the recognition of the right of Israeli Jews to live in peace and security, repeatedly reaffirmed by the Palestinian Authority, the only answers given by successive governments of your country have been violence, bloodshed, confinement, incessant controls, colonization, deprivations..............................

homeland guantanamos

the untold story of immigrant detention in the u.s.

what's wrong with THIS picture

our king doesn't HESITATE for one INSTANT in giving a FOREIGN COUNTRY 300,000,000. (a drop in the bucket when you consider the money we spend in iraq DAILY) when (and let's just take THIS ONE EXAMPLE) victims of hurricane katrina STILL suffer (as i said, ONE example. we're not even talking the housing crisis, the cost of heating oil and petrol for the cars or groceries or health care or education or on and on and on)
Bush waives law to give millions to Pakistan's anti-terror fight
President George W. Bush has cleared the way for giving millions of dollars to Pakistan to fight terrorism this year, the White House said Tuesday as a new government took power in Islamabad.
In a memo to the secretary of state dated Monday, Bush used his authority to exempt Pakistan from a law that restricts funding countries where the legitimate head of state was deposed by a military coup, as in Pakistan.
The waiver, which Bush has approved every year since 2003, opens the way for the United States to provide about 300 million dollars this year to key "war on terror" ally Pakistan to boost its counter-terrorism operations.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration still had concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf took power by force in 1999, but stressed its major strategic role........

wow

this is quite an unusal story (shout out to boing boing). at first i was taken aback. men don't get pregnant. then i thought to myself, our bodies, our selves. they are OUR bodies, we can choose what we do with and to them. it would not be my choice but that's me. i have very strong feelings about adoption (as in if we can love a child, why does she or he have to come from OUR loins. why can't she or he come from another's loins? as in why do people go through the torture and expense of fertility treatments. i don't mean to offend, but i never understood WHY it's so damn important a child has to have YOUR genes)

Labor of Love
Is society ready for this pregnant husband?

By Thomas Beatie

To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual. To those in the quiet Oregon community where we live, we are viewed just as we are -- a happy couple deeply in love. Our desire to work hard, buy our first home, and start a family was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until we decided that I would carry our child.
I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire. .................

................Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns. We have only begun experiencing opposition from people who are upset by our situation. Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs. Health care professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognize Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy’s family doesn’t even know I’m transgender. ..............

evil ugly and sickmaking

is what ALL of these f**kers are!
Justice Dept. 'Cannot' Probe Waterboarding, Mukasey Says

By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer
The attorney general yesterday rejected growing congressional calls for a criminal investigation of the CIA's use of simulated drownings to extract information from its detainees, as Vice President Cheney called it a "good thing" that the CIA was able to learn what it did from those subjected to the practice.
The remarks reflected a renewed effort by the Bush administration to defend its past approval of the interrogation tactic known as waterboarding, which some lawmakers, human rights experts and international lawyers have described as illegal torture.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Justice Department lawyers concluded that the CIA's use of waterboarding in 2002 and 2003 was legal, and therefore the department cannot investigate whether a crime had occurred. .........,

our bestest buds the saudis are at it again

not only do people have absolutely NO rights in that country, women need a man's permission to have surgery. yes you read that right. women need a man's PERMISSION to have surgery

well now they're arresting bloggers. they accused him, fourad al-farhan, of supporting a group of terrorists but i seriously doubt the men ARE terrorists. sounds like they are simply truth sayers

at any rate, MOST of the 9-11 terrorists were trained in and supported by saudi arabia. our bff. why then did we attack iraq? you tell me

Dissident Saudi Blogger Is Arrested
Popular Internet Commentator Had Called for Political Reform

By Faiza Saleh Ambah Washington Post Foreign Service
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 31 -- Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, has been detained for questioning, an Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed Monday. It was the first known arrest of an online critic in the kingdom.
Farhan, 32, who used his blog to criticize corruption and call for political reform, was detained "for violating rules not related to state security," according to the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, responding to repeated requests for comment with a brief cellphone text message.
Farhan's Dec. 10 arrest was reported last week on the Internet and has been condemned by bloggers in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Bahrain. The Saudi news media have not yet reported the arrest, but more than 200 bloggers in the kingdom have criticized Farhan's detention, and a group of supporters have set up a Free Fouad Web site. ........

where was their fury

over everything else? over the outing of a covert cia agent. over warrantless wiretapping. over the treatment of katrina survivors (and those of other storms/fires/floods). over the lack of health care for children (and adults for that matter). over the deaths of 3,886 deaths of american men and women. over the illegal immoral and unjust invasion of a country who did NOTHING to us. over the acceptance of a country such as saudi arabia (or libya) who sentences a victim of gang rape to 200 lashes AND prison time. where is their collective FURY over all of that shite (plus so much more)

where?
Democrats' fury grows over destroyed tapes

By Randall Mikkelsen and Tabassum ZakariaReuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats charged cover-up and demanded investigations into the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing terrorism suspects being subjected to severe interrogation techniques.
The United States has been widely criticized by European allies and human rights groups for methods like "waterboarding" in which prisoners are made to fear that they are drowning. President George W. Bush, who has repeatedly said the United States does not torture, had no recollection of being told about the tapes or their destruction, the White House said.
The CIA's disclosure that it had made and destroyed the tapes plunged the spy agency again into the glare of public scrutiny it has been unable to shake since prewar intelligence on Iraq turned out wrong.
Leading Democrats called for a inquiries by the Justice Department and Congress and criticized the CIA for acting above the law. .........

who said high school kids don't care these days?

NOT me that's for sure. these kids are KICK ASS!!!

Students hand Bush letter urging ban on torture

While meeting with a group of high school seniors from the Presidential Scholars program in the East Room of the White House, President Bush received an unexpected surprise: a letter signed by 50 of them urging Bush to halt "violations of the human rights" of terror suspects held by the United States.
According to AP, "The White House says Bush did not expect the letter but took a moment to read it and talk with a young woman who'd handed it to him."
White House spokesman Dana Perino said Bush let the student know "the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," a statement seemingly contradicted by Bush's signing statement which gave him power to largely ignore a Congressional ban on torture spearheaded by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)..........

do you remember when you heard or read the words

'the disappeared' you ONLY thought of some south american country?

for the past few years though, that hasn't been the case. now when we hear the words the disappeared we think of the united states of america. i never thought i'd see the day when that would happen

Thirty nine people said to have 'disappeared' in US custody

"Six human rights groups released Wednesday a list of 39 people they believe have been secretly imprisoned by the United States and whose whereabouts are unknown and called on the Bush administration to abandon secret detentions," according to advance copy of an article to run in Thursday's New York Times.
Files Reuters: "Six human rights groups urged the U.S. government on Thursday to name and explain the whereabouts of 39 people they said were believed to have been held in U.S. custody and "disappeared." Excerpts follow.
The groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said they filed a U.S. federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act seeking information about the 39 people it terms "ghost prisoners" in the U.S. "war on terror.".........

we invaded their country

for NO legal, legitimate or MORAL reason. we destroyed families, land, businesses. we are ABANDONING those that have helped our military members (i was dumbfounded when i watched 60 minutes this weekend and saw how we were not taking care of those assisting our miltary as translators. the iraqis that have helped us are as good as dead and begging us to help them. take them to america. we of course are spitting in their faces.). HOW DARE WE


Left Behind

Scott Pelley On The Plight Of Iraqis Who Helped The U.S.

(CBS) When U.S. troops invaded Iraq, they had a major handicap – they didn’t speak the language. There would have been no progress, and likely more American dead, had it not been for Iraqi citizens who volunteered to serve our armed forces as translators. Many thousands of Iraqis believed in the cause. They signed on as drivers, construction workers and office workers. But now they and their families are being hunted down by insurgents bent on killing them for collaborating. No wonder many are fleeing Iraq, desperate for asylum. But as they appeal to the U.S., many feel they’re being left behind. .......

A humanitarian crisis of historic proportions


Nearly 2 million Iraqis have fled to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey—another 1.8 million have been displaced within their country's borders.

The humanitarian crisis that didn’t evolve as expected at the start of the Iraq war is now in full swing, says the International Rescue Committee, after surveying needs in Syria and Jordan, where desperate Iraqis have taken refuge from the chaos at home. How the IRC is Helping > ...........

Iraqi Refugees Overwhelm Syria
Migrants Who Fled Violence Put Stress on Housing Market, Schools

By Scott Wilson Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, February 3, 2005; Page A18
ALEPPO, Syria -- Sabbah Zaker had a small, sturdy construction company in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and although he did not agree with the U.S. invasion, he accepted a $10,000 contract last summer to renovate schools and health clinics across his ethnically mixed home town. A few months later, his name began appearing on the walls of his neighborhood as a warning from insurgents not to cooperate with the Americans. .............
.......We cannot continue like this," said Abdelhamid Ouali, the representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria. "The situation is terrible, and we are obliged to do something."
Hoping to help the fleeing Iraqis without encouraging their flight, the U.N. agency arranged "temporary protection status" that prevented the Iraqis from being deported but did not trigger the financial aid and relocation assistance that goes to official refugees. Almost two years ago, the agency set up large tent cities and health clinics for thousands of people. The facilities were mothballed when the mass exodus did not immediately materialize. .......

human rights watch iraqis

Violence, Poverty Underscore Story of Iraqi Refugees in Jordan


by Jon Elmer
For those who have fled the chaos of home to settle indefinitely in Amman, making do and maintaining hope of someday returning to a peaceful Iraq are elusive ways of life.
Amman; July 22, 2005 – Hisham Jamil is unequivocal when asked why he and his wife have chosen a life of unemployment in a foreign country over the life they built together in Baghdad.
"You know why we left," he said as he walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Hamsa, down a busy street here in Jordan's capital. "The whole world knows why we left. We can't live in Baghdad anymore; it is as simple as that. Life is impossible."...........

Video: Special report on Iraq's growing refugee crisis

David Edwards

In a Channel 4 News special, Jonathan Miller reports on the millions of Iraqi refugees fleeing their homeland in the wake of an ongoing war.
"They've escaped from hell in Iraq, but now they're stuck here in limbo," reports Miller on the roughly one million Iraqi refugees who have fled to Syria. "Many are destitute, most are illegal. They can't get health care, there's no schooling, and no jobs. And there's always that looming threat of summary deportation."
In Jordan, as in Syria, Iraqis who flee the war are not officially recognized as political refugees, but instead are considered temporary visitors, thus denying them any permanent residence or work permits. Jordan has currently stopped accepting refugees...........