See I disagree with Abu Funza. No I don’t mean with everything he says, although meet him and you’ll realise how much waffle he actually chats. At the moment I’m particularly mad at him over a certain trip to Birmingham. But that’s another post for another time. No here, I differ in opinion with him in regards to whether America will invade Iran.
I refuse to believe America could be so incredibly stupid. Sure Iran did itself no favours by detaining our soldiers, Ahmedinajad may have a few screws loose, and personally I don’t particularly agree with theocracies. And the US probably echo these views, but like I said, I refuse to believe that these are grounds for attacking a country and I refuse to believe that they haven’t learnt from Iraq. The absolute MESS that they have caused there. (What astounds me is how shocked they seem to be about it as well. I knew 14 year old girls that could have told them it would never have worked. They who employ the best minds thought Iraq would welcome them with open arms. Yeah right. And then everything would go swimmingly- the US would have protected their interests whilst democracy would reign. What’s the saying?- you can’t force democracy with the barrel of a gun?) But I’m not going to go in to all the many many reasons we should never have gone into Iraq- you’ve heard it all before and besides it’d take too much time and I’m sposed to be getting ready to go out.
And even if Iraq had never happened and Iran was still on the agenda, has America forgotten what the word sovereign means? So much for fighting against empires.
Well basically this post was just to say, I believe America are cleverer than that. I can’t seriously believe that they think that they will be able to, just logistically even, or get away with invading Iran. I don’t know what the mood is like amongst the American people, but certainly amongst us British, we ain’t gonna stand for it.
Arab Media Watch urges its members and the public to join the thousands, including journalists and media personalities, who have signed the BBC's online petition urging that abducted Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston be freed quickly and unharmed. It has now been over three weeks since his abduction, with no word on his whereabouts or condition.
If you would like to add your name to the petition, please click on:
While AMW condemns all forms of attacks, harassment and censorship of the media, the particular absurdity of this abduction is that Alan, as one of the few Western journalists still based in the Gaza Strip, has brought much-needed attention to the deteriorating situation in the territory over the past three years, and provided valuable and insightful perspectives that are often lacking among other media outlets," said AMW chairman Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi.
"AMW has consistently made the case that there are nowhere near enough correspondents based in the occupied Palestinian territories, and that this hampers the depth and objectivity of coverage. Alan's reports often have a qualitative edge because he is based at the heart of the conflict he is covering, rather than the relative comfort, safety and detachment of Israel," Nashashibi added.
Sick and tired of bias, inaccurate, unobjective reporting by the media? Then do something about it today. MPACUK are undergoing a campaign demanding the BBC publicly apolgise and correct an false, offensive statement made by BBC Sport's correspondance on 24.03.07 during the Football Focus program at 12.10BST. The reporter inaccurately describes Jerusalem as Israel's capital - this is not only inaccurate and dismiss international law where neither east or west Jerusalem is considered Israel's capital but is also offensive to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation every day.
How dare they! I don't pay my licence fees for such reporting so I complained on numerous occasions via phone calls and emails and have urged friends and family do the same. It's not good moaning and grumbling from the sidelines - this is a typical example of when an injustice is done we can make a change via simple yet effective means - lobbying!
So get to complaining people:
To make a complaint via the internet click on this link.
Or call the BBC directly on 08700 100 222
*Remember the clip was televised as part of BBC Sport coverage called ‘Football Focus - Feature: Israel in Focus’ on BBC1 at 12.10BST on the 24th March 2007. The BBC must ensure that such a mistake is not made again as it is erroneous, misleading and offensive to many people who are struggling to uphold the rights of Palestinians under occupation. For more information on the United Nations position on the status of Jerusalem click here.
p.s Happy Easter to those celebrating. Mmmmmmm....man do I love Easter and the chocolates as a result of the festivity!
Good old Mosques seem to be receiving a battering lately. First signs of plans for a new Mosque in East London and an orchestrated email campaign is whipped up to spread false statements. Ken Livingstone, who I nickname as Champion Ken for his bravery and ruthlessness when it comes to defending Palestinians, revealed an organised email campaign around an online poll being conducted by the Evening Standard aimed at stirring up communal hatred by spreading entirely false statements about plans for a new mosque in East London. Then the controversial poll was removed after Champion Ken exposed its hidden agenda. You see it was no ordinary poll and thus the need to expose it's motives. The poll asked readers to vote whether or not they were in favour of the Mayor spending £100 million of public money on a new Mosque in East London however Mr Livingstone has repeatedly denied any public funds would be spent on the project. Mr Livingstone said his office has been alerted to a series of emails being sent which make what he calls "a series of false claims about the mosque proposals in such a way as to stir up communal hatred" leading him to write to Veronica Wadley, Editor of the Evening Standard. I mean come on, even the BNP were urging it's fans to vote in the poll! http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/
A Nottingham mosque has been severely damaged in a fire described by a leading imam as "an act of terrorism against Muslims". Police and fire investigators are trying to determine the exact cause of the blaze at the Madni Masjid Mosque on Alberta Terrace in Forest Fields. Imam Raza ul Haq said he believed paint was thrown around the inside of the mosque and then set alight.
Then the whole Ruth Kelly and the £600,000 she has floating around at her dispense:
The government is planning to intervene in some mosques to support Muslims who want to marginalise extremists. Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly will announce a new role for the Charity Commission, strengthening its task of overseeing religious institutions. A £600,000 faith unit within the commission will help Muslims strengthen governance and leadership in mosques.
Ms Kelly's department has changed government strategy by launching talks with a broader range of Muslim groups. But at the same time, the largest body, the Muslim Council of Britain, has fallen out of favour, leading to claims that ministers are talking only to those prepared to agree with government. http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/
I'm not so sure about the MCB being involved with this. Although they supposedly represnt Britain's Muslims, I've still to be convinced they are the most effective organisation to represent us. They good - but not that good. I think they are not as in tune with the younger generation as they claim. The dosh Ruth Kelly has needs to be spent on improving the state of our Mosques - indeed. But with the current apathetic and backward Mosque leaders? Hell no!
If the Mosque elders finally realise that now comes the time for them to make way for the younger generation to get involved with the running of the Mosques - the pillars of our community - in order to reform, improve and defend our communities and liberties then by all means i'll give 'em money! But sadly, this doesn't seem like it's in the pipelines for a while and our Mosques will continue to be run by men who don't speak English, who cannot apprehend that they must teach Muslims (via program's/classes/syllabuses) to engage within the democratic systems in order to make an effective change for us here as well as for our brothers and sisters worldwide, who refuses to open its doors to the non-Muslim community and thus the development of respect and harmony between people of different faiths is non-existant, and who slams doors in the faces of its women, sisters, mothers as they beg old men to let them engage within the Mosques and be allowed prayer space in the House of Allah.
There were two cameras filming most, if not all, of the following incident. A few soldiers are easily recognizable by Human Rights Workers (HRW) given the number of times they have been present while soldiers have been invading numerous Palestinian homes.
At approximately 5:15 PM, an HRW posted at the Tel Rumeida checkpoint heard yelling and screaming coming from up the hill. The HRW moved up the hill, and a Palestinian woman was able to point out the house and medical facility from which the screams were issuing. The HRW asked Israeli soldiers immediately inside the building’s door what was going on. They refused to answer, and the soldiers physically prevented the HRW from entering the house. At this point, Dr. Taysir, the building’s owner, broke free from the soldier who was holding him, and pulled on the HRW’s arm while begging him to enter. The HRW managed to enter the door, and saw two, elongated contusions high on Dr. Taysir’s left arm. While being pushed out once again, the HRW negotiated with the soldiers to leave the door open on the condition that he remain outside.
Shortly thereafter three more HRWs arrived. The HRWs managed to enter the building. Three HRWs demanded access to Dr. Taysir, who was now out of sight, while a fourth video taped the encounter. Dr. Taysir could be heard yelling and crying out in pain from a room further in the house. The HRWs attempted to move past the soldiers in order to prevent further injury to Dr. Taysir, but were repeatedly forced back. The soldiers refused to explain why the doctor’s home had been entered, why he had been struck, or why the HRWs could not see him. Throughout this time, the soldiers were physically and verbally aggressive towards the HRWs, repeatedly shoving them towards the door, and yelling at them to get out, shut up, etc.
At this point, an Israeli major arrived with approximately six more soldiers. The major entered the building and began speaking with Dr. Taysir’s brother, who had observed some, but not all, of the incident; this conversation is filmed almost entirely. The major spoke briefly to the soldiers already on site, who quickly became considerably less aggressive toward the HRWs. After approximately ten minutes, the major and all soldiers departed the house without speaking to anyone else. The HRWs then videotaped interviews with both Dr. Taysir and his brother regarding the incident.
Dr. Taysir told the HRWs that he gone to open the door for the soldiers when almost immediately they began shoving him around and pinned him against a wall by pressing on his chest. The doctor told the soldier not to push him, and the soldier responded by punching him in the temple. Other soldiers joined in, and Dr. Taysir received blows to his arms, legs, and torso. At least two blows, those to his left arm, were strikes with the butt of a rifle; these injuries are documented with video.
Seeing that Dr. Taysir was being attacked, a female patient who was present attempted to intervene, putting herself between the doctor and the soldiers. She was struck by a soldier, and fell unconscious. The patient was later placed on a medical exam table with an oxygen feed to help her recover, where she was videotaped (with permission) by the HRWs. Dr. Taysir’s adult daughter was also beaten at some point during the encounter, though the events are not clear to us what happened. Dr. Taysir and his brother both stated repeatedly that soldiers used and regularly use foul language towards him and his family, including his wife and small children.
Later that evening, before sunset, soldiers could be seen on the roof of Dr. Taysir’s house. HRWs were standing on their own roof, and when they looked in the direction of the soldiers, the soldiers used their arms in a gesture to say ‘F***you’ to the HRWs. The soldiers were laughing the entire time. The HRWs did not respond.
300 is tearing up the box office, and because of its success, the studio has recut the film to make a PG version so kids can learn the story of what really happened aswell :p
