Top Posts
It's time for Palestinians and Israelis
to share a just peace.
It's time to respect human lives
in the land called holy.
It's time for healing to begin in wounded souls.
It's time to end 60 years
of conflict, oppression and fear.
It's time for freedom from occupation.
It's time for equal rights.
It's time to understand pent-up anger
and begin to set things right.
It's time for those with blood on their hands
to acknowledge what they have done.
It's time to seek forgiveness between communities
and to repair a broken land together.
It's time to move forward as human beings
who are all made in the image of God.
All who are able to speak truth to power
must speak it.
All who would break the silence surrounding injustice
must break it.
All who have something to give for peace
must give it.
For Palestine, for Israel
and for a troubled world,
It's time for peace.
By Simon Kirby
MANKIND is naive to think it can influence climate change, according to a prize-winning Australian geologist.
Solar activity is a greater driver of climate change than man-made carbon dioxide, argues Ian Plimer, Professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide and winner of several notable science prizes...
There had even been periods in history with hundreds of times more atmospheric carbon dioxide than now with “no problem”, he said.
The professor, a member of the Australian Skeptics, an organisation devoted to debunking pseudo-scientific claims, denied his was a minority view.
“You'd be very hard pushed to find a geologist that would differ from my view,” he said.
Bethlehem - Ma'an -
The UN's Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, John Dugard, has issued a harshly critical report on Israel's human rights record in regards to its treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
"The international community, speaking through the United Nations, has identified three regimes as inimical to human rights - colonialism, apartheid and foreign occupation," Dugard says.In his 24-page report, which will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly for debate on 15 March 2006, the South African lawyer accuses Israel of all three...
Dugard concludes that the case of human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory has come to resemble a 'test' for the West, by which its commitment to human rights is to be judged. He recognises that numerous other nations in the developing world suppress human rights, but Israel is the only "Western-affiliated regime" allowed to get away with it. Dugard warns, "If the West fails this test, it can hardly expect the developing world to address human rights violations seriously in its own countries, and the West appears to be failing this test."
by Brian Ross and Christopher Isham
A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.
It has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials.
Most recently, Jundullah took credit for an attack in February that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard riding on a bus in the Iranian city of Zahedan.
Last month, Iranian state television broadcast what it said were confessions by those responsible for the bus attack.
They reportedly admitted to being members of Jundullah and said they had been trained for the mission at a secret location in Pakistan.
Some former CIA officers say the arrangement is reminiscent of how the U.S. government used proxy armies, funded by other countries including Saudi Arabia, to destabilize the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s.
by Jesse@TvNewsLies.org
Let’s understand one thing: the 9/11 truth movement is doing nothing but growing. People who have been exposed to the actual evidence and understand the ramifications of what it reveals are not waking up one morning and suddenly deciding that they believe the official story. The dynamic works like this: those who are not aware of the evidence believe the official story. Once they start poking around they realize that the official story about the attacks could not possibly be true, and they discover the plethora of evidence that was hidden and misrepresented by the Bush administration, the 9/11 Commission and the corporate media. 9/11 truthers are not suddenly coming across new information that causes them to suddenly believe the official story. It’s a one way flow. The evidence speaks for itself...
Maybe 9/11 can serve as an eye opener and jolt the people into recognizing the US corporate media as the enemy. We don’t need media reform in this nation, we need media replacement. We need a real news industry, one that understands why its vocation is the only one protected by thy US Constitution. We don’t need a media with incestuous connections to the CIA or nefarious secret organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg Group). We don’t need journalists who report American Idol scandals; we need journalists to keep an eye on our government and show us every last piece of evidence they uncover about their misdeeds...
The 9/11 truth movement can only grow. It’s not about theories. It’s not about accusations. It’s not about speculation. It’s about the official public body of evidence and how much of it has been kept from us, misrepresented and in some cases totally fabricated. You don’t have to convince people of a theory; all you have to do is show them the evidence. And the longer the criminal corporate media continue to withhold evidence, the harder it will be to explain to the growing body of very angry Max Cadys out there, why they have done so. Think about it.
by Denis G. Rancourt
First published on Activist Teacher
I argue: (1) that global warming (climate change, climate chaos, etc.) will not become humankind’s greatest threat until the sun has its next hiccup in a billion years or more (in the very unlikely scenario that we are still around), (2) that global warming is presently nowhere near being the planet’s most deadly environmental scourge, and (3) that government action and political will cannot measurably or significantly ameliorate global climate in the present world.
I also advance that there are strong societal, institutional, and psychological motivations for having constructed and for continuing to maintain the myth of a global warming dominant threat (global warming myth, for short). I describe these motivations in terms of the workings of the scientific profession and of the global corporate and finance network and its government shadows.
I argue that by far the most destructive force on the planet is power-driven financiers and profit-driven corporations and their cartels backed by military might; and that the global warming myth is a red herring that contributes to hiding this truth. In my opinion, activists who, using any justification, feed the global warming myth have effectively been co-opted, or at best neutralized...
by Mark and Louise Zwick
At that time Bishop Bertone not only denounced the critical aspects of usury, but also "the problem of loans among nations which ends up by creating the problem of international debt." His recent interview echoes these criticisms of usury and the international financial institutions:
“I've repeated many times the judgment of experts and entire bodies of bishops: the international loans made by the World Bank and the Inter-national Monetary Fund, as well as bilateral loans, are by now a form of usury and should be declared illegal," Bertone said.
by J. Plummer
There was a time, not long ago, when daring to question the official account of 9/11 was risky business. One was almost guaranteed to be attacked as a "crazy person" or a "traitor" or a "terrorist sympathizer." Times have changed. At this point, less than 20% of the population believes they were given the full truth regarding 9/11. Logically one might ask: "Why is that?"
It wasn't for lack of trying that the government failed in its propaganda campaign. It wasn't for lack of "helping hands" in the mainstream media. (Though even that support has begun to fall apart.) No, it was one thing and one thing only that caused hundreds of millions of American citizens to openly question the official account of 9/11; the evidence.
excerpts from:
Atrocity Gods
by Ashley Howes
If the EU is going to craft new 'Holocaust Denial' legislation, surely it must first be defined. Mainly it is used to label those who, in the opinion of the one using the term, minimize the suffering of Jewish Holocaust victims and thereby foster the potential for future state-organised mass murder...
The subjectivity involved in evaluating intent explains the many glaring examples of double standards surrounding the 'holocaust denial' controversy. For example: the 'establishment' historian Raul Hilberg states that the number of those murdered in Auschwitz was not four but one million, whilst the total number of Jews who died in WW II was not six but five million. When he makes such revisions, this is not considered 'denial'. Yet when an 'unapproved' historian such as David Irving cites the same figures or, for example, that the gas chamber at Auschwitz is a post-war Soviet construction, during his trial in Austria he was not allowed to bring in the Auschwitz director to testify because no question regarding the truth or falsehood of any aspect of the Holocaust was allowed. In most courts where such cases are tried, there is virtually no defence against 'denial' accusations even if the revision in question is generally agreed-upon by 'non-denier' Holocaust historians.
Not only do these surreal double standards make Kafka appear a realist, but also the changing story makes defining the Holocaust, let alone 'denial', almost impossible....
Many say that the main value of remembering the holocaust vividly is so that 'never again' as civilised peoples will we allow such horror to arise in our midst; this is a convincing point, and usually sincerely made.
However, by overlooking much of the overall story in favour of allowing one particular slant to dominate the meta-narrative and thus core identity of 'modern' society, we are already doing it again.
How else to explain how we believe that since 1990 we have starved and slaughtered well over one million Iraqis, mostly women and children, through sanctions, bombing and invasion all in the name of 'justice', 'decency' and 'freedom'?
by Andrew Marshall
As soon as people start to state that “the debate is over”, beware, because the fundamental basis of all sciences is that debate is never over, that questions must be asked and answered and issues raised in order for the science to be accurate...
It seems worrisome that politicians are all too eager to grab onto this man-made myth of global warming in order to make us afraid and guilty. Guilty enough to want to change it, and afraid enough to give up our freedoms and undergo massive financial expenses in order to do so. So this lie, being pushed by big money and big governments, is a convenient lie for those who want to exert control and collect money. However, it’s inconvenient for the mass amount of people who are already experiencing the problems of a widening wage-gap and fading middle class.
If the problems we are being presented are based on lies, then how do we expect to find any true solution to helping the environment? A Global Tax won’t clean up the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, which is still polluting waters in Alaska nearly 18 years after the spill occurred. A Global Tax won’t stop Shell from making the Niger Delta the most endangered Delta in the whole world. No, we have to first be realistic, mature, and have debate about the problems we are facing, and then, and only then, can we even hope to achieve any sort of solution.
A Talk by Ilan Pappe
...I am quite confident, as I wrote in my latest book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, that actually already in the 1930s the Israeli -- then it was not Israeli, it was a pre-state leadership -- had contemplated and systematically planned the expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948....
Finally, one of the common Israeli mythologies about 1948, and not only about 1948, is that Israel all the time stretches its hand for peace, always offers peace to the Arab world in general, and the Palestinians in particular, and it is the Arab world and the Palestinians who are inflexible and refuse any peace proposal. I think we showed in our work that, at least in 1948, that there was a genuine offer for peace from the world, or an idea of peace, after the war ended, and actually the Palestinians and the Arab neighboring states were willing at least to give a chance for peace, and it was the Israeli government that rejected it. Later, one of the New Historians, Avi Shlaim from Oxford, would write a book that is called the Iron Wall. In this book, he shows that not only in 1948, but since 1948 until today, there were quite a lot of junctures in history where there was a chance for peace, and it failed not because the Arab world refused to exploit the chance, but rather because the Israelis rejected the peace offer...
The fact is that the world knew, and absolved Israel. As a result, the Israeli state, the new state of Israel that was founded in 1948, accepted as an ideological infrastructure the idea that to think about an ethnic purity of a state is a just objective.
by Caroline Borden
I have spent time with families whose houses have been demolished; families who are left with no means of income after their fields have been destroyed; men who have been tortured in prison and who are nevertheless seeking a nonviolent way to resist; children who have been shot while playing; children who have been beaten by soldiers; and children whose siblings are in jail simply for being members of a political party.
The lives of Palestinians are devalued at the expense of Israelis. Palestinian children have little or no access to play areas, because of Israeli building restrictions and continued confiscation of land. While settlements atop hills in Palestine use water for swimming pools, gardens, and open spaces, Palestinians must pay four times as much to Israel for water.
Sewage from these settlements often runs directly onto Palestinian farmland.
Palestinian children in refugee camps face raids, where soldiers come in the middle of the night, break into their houses, and sometimes make an arrest or simply break things and leave.
by Mike Whitney
The bombing of the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra is the cornerstone of Bush’s psychological operations (psyops) in Iraq......
Just as 9-11 has been used to justify the enhanced powers of the “unitary” president, the evisceration of civil liberties, and a permanent state of war; so too, the bombing of the Golden Mosque has been used to create a fictional narrative of deeply ingrained sectarian animosity that has no historical precedent. Both events need to be exposed by thorough and independent investigations.
by Nigel Calder, former editor of New Scientist
When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works...
Twenty years ago, climate research became politicised in favour of one particular hypothesis, which redefined the subject as the study of the effect of greenhouse gases. As a result, the rebellious spirits essential for innovative and trustworthy science are greeted with impediments to their research careers...
The best measurements of global air temperatures come from American weather satellites, and they show wobbles but no overall change since 1999.
That levelling off is just what is expected by the chief rival hypothesis, which says that the sun drives climate changes more emphatically than greenhouse gases do.
by Pope Benedict XVI
Once again I invite the leaders of the wealthiest nations to take the necessary steps to ensure that poor countries, which often have a wealth of natural resources, are able to benefit from the fruits of goods that are rightfully theirs. From this point of view, the delay in implementing the commitments undertaken by the international community during the last few years is another cause of concern....
At the same time, these processes must not be made conditional upon structural adjustments that are detrimental to the most vulnerable populations.
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by no one special
Content and Introduction
What we believe in the western world to be our democracy has turned into something wholly different, since we have left the path of reason.
This series of posts was written as a plea to bring back reason into politics. Reason means to consider the other as partner and his interests as valid as our own. Democracy can´t live without this kind of reason.
This is also a plea to bring back ethics into politics.
Most of us have lost a sense or ethics when it comes to politics. We have started to count human life in money value as well, and talk about interests of groups or nations which can be pursued by violent means.
But we have to realize that life without ethics is self-defeating. In a society without ethics we will loose the protection it would give us.
How do you define ethics in political terms? We could start with the first article of the German constitution:
"The dignity of man must never be violated, to respect and protect this human dignity must be the highest task of all government authority."
One of the most important ethical principles we have to bring back into politics is honesty.
So this also a plea to regain honesty in politics.
The truth isn´t always easy to find, since it is most often complicated and each and everyone can only hold part of it. Untruth, however, lies and deceptions can and must be uncovered. This is essential for our future.
There cannot be a democracy without respect for truth.
Without this respect and the honesty, that goes with it, there cannot be trust.
Without trust there cannot be peace.
If we want honesty, we need to counter lies and deliberate untruths....
So you are a moderate
The Essence of a Propagandocracy
The two Layers of Human Intelligence and how they influence your Political Reasoning
The Idiocy of the movie "Idiocracy"
How Memory Works
9/11 was an inside job
Betrayal by our government and our media
Revolutions rarely turn out well
The 9/11 Conspirators know nothing about the People
The Nature of Elitism
How a Propagandocracy can turn even nature into a weapon against humanity
The terrible Hypothesis of Reverend Malthus
Eugenic Horrors
The Media and modern Culture
Politics and me
How the Propagandocracy managed the German Reunification
The Media Deceptions of the Good War in Afghanistan Uncovered
What money, wars, weapons and spooks did to the world
We have to face up to the real world.
The Propaganda war against Iran
The Nuclear Issue, the reality and the spin of western media
Women in Iran, Rights and Opportunities
Iran´s Government and Political System
They have turned America into a Poor-House by Cheating on the Capitalist
Ending aggressive foreign policies and making a money reform
The Roots of Elitist Thinking
Are the Elitists in control of the whole world. Short answer: No
I sometimes dream of Palestine
Peaceful Options for Israel and Palestine
What little I knew before
The Historic Truth that will be the Hardest to Accept
My Reasons
Historical Facts
The Relationship between European Jewish and Christian People
The History and Ideology of Zionism
How and Why Hitler Came to Power in Germany
American Support for Israel
How and why Palestinians were driven off their land
Palestine Today
Strawberry Fields Forever
von:
no one special
Einführung und Inhaltsverzeichnis
Was wir in unserem Land für Demokratie halten, ist es schon längst nicht mehr.Denn Demokratie erfordert Vernunft.
Dies ist ein Versuch wieder Vernunft in die politische Debatte zu bekommen. Wer nur die eigenen Interessen sieht, sei es die der eigenen Gruppe oder der eigenen Nation und diese dann mit aller Macht und jeder ihm zur Verfügung stehenden Gewalt umsetzen will, handelt zutiefst unvernünftig. Es ist selbstzerstörerisch und kann am Ende die Welt mit sich ziehen.
Nur wer die Interessen des Gegenüber als ebenso wert ansieht wie die eigenen ist wirklich vernünftig.
Dies ist auch ein Versuch Ethik wieder politisch diskussionsfähig zu machen. Es darf nicht mehr darum gehen, was kann ich erreichen mit den Mitteln, die ich habe, sondern was ist ethisch zulässig und was nicht.
Ein Verlust der Ethik bedeutet ein Verlust des Schutzes, die sie allen bietet und auch das ist am Ende selbstzerstörerisch und letztlich zutiefst unvernünftig.
Wie kann Ethik politisch formuliert werden? Fangen wir mit dem ersten Artikel der Verfassung an:
"Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar. Sie zu achten und zu schützen ist die Aufgabe jeder staatlichen Gewalt."
Dies ist auch ein Versuch Ehrlichkeit in der Politik nicht mehr als lächerlich und überholt erscheinen zu lassen.
Ohne Ehrlichkeit gibt es kein Vertrauen und ohne Vertrauen ist Demokratie im Innern und Friedenspolitik nach außen nicht möglich.
Um Ehrlichkeit zu wiederherzustellen, müssen wir uns mit den Lügen der Vergangenheit befassen, und den Gründen, warum gelogen wurde und warum wir diese Lügen geglaubt haben...
Jedenfalls ist das meine Art einer anti-Kriegskampagne.
Sie sind also politisch moderat
Das Wesen einer Propagandokratie
Die zwei Stufen der menschlichen Intelligenz und wie sie unser politisches Denken beeinflussen
Die Idiotie des Films "Idiocracy"
Wie unsere Erinnerung funktioniert
Die Anschläge des 11. Septembers waren ein "inside job"
Der Verrat durch die Politik und die Medien
Revolutionen gehen selten gut aus
Die Planer des 11.September haben keine Ahnung von den Menschen
Das Wesen des Elitismus
Wie die Propagandokratie sogar die Natur als Waffe gegen die Menschheit benutzt
Die furchtbaren Lehren des Reverend Malthus
Die Horrorshow der "guten" Gene
Medien und Kultur
Die Politik und ich
Wie die Progandokratie die deutsche Einheit gemanaged hat
Die Medienlüge vom "GUTEN KRIEG" in Afganistan
Was Geld, Kriege, Waffen und Spione der Welt angetan haben
Die reale Welt
Der Propagandakrieg gegen den Iran
Das Thema Atomkraft
Frauen im Iran, Rechte und Möglichkeiten
Irans Regierung und sein politisches System
Die Verwandlung Amerikas in ein Armenhaus durch Betrug am kapitalistischen System
Ende der agressiven Außenpolitik und Währungsreform zu zinsfreiem Geld
Die Wurzeln des elitistischen Denkens
Kontrollieren die Elitisten die ganze Welt. Kurze Antwort: Nein
Manchmal träume ich von Palästina
Optionen für einen Frieden in Palästina
Wie wenig ich früher wusste
Die geschichtliche Wahrheit, die am schwersten zu verkraften sein wird
Meine Gründe dafür
Die geschichtlichen Fakten
Die Geschichte und Ideologie des Zionismus
Wie und warum Hitler in Deutschland an die Macht kam
Amerikanische Unterstützung für Israel
Wie und warum die Palästinenser von ihrem Land vertrieben wurden
Palästina Heute
"Strawberry Fields Forever"
By Gary G. Kohls
62 years ago, on August 9th, 1945, the second of the only two atomic bombs (a plutonium bomb) ever used as instruments of aggressive war (against essentially defenseless civilian populations) was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, by an all-Christian bomb crew.
The well-trained American soldiers were only "doing their job," and they did it efficiently.
Nagasaki is famous in the history of Japanese Christianity. Not only was it the site of the largest Christian church in the Orient, St. Mary’s Cathedral, but it also had the largest concentration of baptized Christians in all of Japan.
Nagasaki is famous in the history of Japanese Christianity. Not only was it the site of the largest Christian church in the Orient, St. Mary’s Cathedral, but it also had the largest concentration of baptized Christians in all of Japan. It was the city where the legendary Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, established a mission church in 1549, a Christian community which survived and prospered for several generations.
Now it turned out, in the mystery of good and evil, that St. Mary’s Cathedral was one of the landmarks that the Bock’s Car bombardier had been briefed on, and looking through his bomb site over Nagasaki that day, he identified the cathedral and ordered the drop.
At 11:02 am, Nagasaki Christianity was boiled, evaporated and carbonized in a scorching, radioactive fireball. The persecuted, vibrant, faithful, surviving center of Japanese Christianity had become ground zero.
And what the Japanese Imperial government could not do in over 200 years of persecution, American Christians did in 9 seconds. The entire worshipping community of Nagasaki was wiped out.
The above true (and unwelcome) story should stimulate discussion among those who claim to be disciples of Jesus.
And what the Japanese Imperial government could not do in over 200 years of persecution, American Christians did in 9 seconds. The entire worshipping community of Nagasaki was wiped out.
The purpose of this essay is to stimulate open and honest discussion (at least among the followers of Jesus) about the ethics of killing by and for one's government, not from the perspective of national security ethics, not from the perspective of the military, not from the perspective of (the pre-Christian) eye-for-an-eye retaliation that Jesus rejected, but from the perspective of the Sermon on the Mount, the core ethical teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.
What can we do to prevent the next round of these atrocities, all of which have been perpetrated by professed Christians?
And what is to be done to prevent the next Nagasaki?
On the systematic violation of the Human Rights of Islamic Activists in the Middle East and Northern Africa
by Pax Christi International
Pax Christi International is a global Catholic peace movement working with and for partners and Member Organisations throughout the countries in the Middle East and northern Africa regions.
Pax Christi International wishes to express its concerns about the double standards the international community applies when it comes to violations of civil and political rights, and the human rights of Islamic activists, in particular in the Middle East.
As an international peace movement active in many conflict areas in the world, Pax Christi believes in human dignity as a central value that is the basis of the equality of all human beings, regardless of their political, ideological or other affiliation. Universal application of these rights is a necessary condition for a peaceful society.
As a peace movement, Pax Christi International believes in the importance of human dignity as the basis for the equality of all human beings and as an integral element of any peaceful society. No circumstance or crime justifies leniency on international human rights norms. Turning a blind eye to certain human rights violations or even advocating practices that are contrary to international human rights standards undermine the very foundations of the United Nations human rights system.
We therefore recommend the Human Rights Council, within its mandate to protect “human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner”, to consider taking the following measures:
• Raise the problem of systematic and gross violations of the rights of Islamic Activists and terror suspects in a special briefing to the UN Security Council;
• Call upon the relevant UN Human Rights Committee, and the Committee on Torture to look specifically into the issue of human rights violations perpetrated against Islamic activists and terror suspects;...
by Pax Christi USA
Pax Christi USA believes that the global economy should serve the needs of people - especially the most vulnerable and marginalized - not the people serving the needs of the global economy.
Pax Christi USA believes that the structures and institutions of globalization should respect and preserve indigenous cultures around the world.
Pax Christi USA believes that the promise of a global spiritual consciousness requires that all spiritual paths that advocate tolerance and the kinship of all peoples should be protected.
Pax Christi USA believes that the Earth is God's primary revelation to humanity, calling us to see ourselves as part of the web of life.
Pax Christi USA believes that true and lasting peace is the fruit of justice.
We reject global militarism, which maintains the position of the strong over the weak. We call for the development of new forms of global peacemaking and security that are truly international and which protect the human rights (both civil and economic) of all people.
Pax Christi USA affirms the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World's condemnation that "the arms race is an utterly treacherous trap for humanity, and one which ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree.
It is much to be feared that if this race persists, it will eventually spawn all the lethal ruin whose path it is now making ready." We call for the end of the global arms trade and a commitment to developing nonviolent means of conflict resolution through preventative diplomacy and a long-term commitment to eliminating the poverty that is a root cause of much of the world's conflict.
Pax Christi USA believes that the promise inherent in a more humane globalization makes the work of transforming, replacing and, when necessary abolishing the current financial institutional carriers of globalization an imperative.
We call for financial institutions with new priorities and values that include ensuring full participation of all community members in all aspects of the development enterprise, as well as setting the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable at the top of development agendas.
We bring to this commitment our strong belief in the transformative power of nonviolent struggle in solidarity with communities of the poor and marginalized.
By Cindy Sheehan
The entire time I was in Assisi, I was also reminded that before Casey went into the Army and was killed in George's immoral war, he had traveled to Assisi as part of the World Youth Day 2000 celebrations. Every step I took, I wondered if Casey's feet had walked those steps. I know that Casey would have been filled with reverence and love when he was there and, in fact, he spoke very respectfully and reverently about his trip to Italy, but especially Assisi.
Many people who knew Casey well always said that he reminded them of a young St. Francis, who said: "Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words."
I was starting to recall my Roman Catholic roots more and more while in the Basilica, when those same roots were brought back sharply into focus as I came to the "Tomba di San Francesco," the Tomb of St. Francis. I walked into the chapel and stood in front of the Saint's remains and was struck by the fact that I was in a holy place. A sacred spot that has been sanctified not by the sprinkling of holy water or the sometimes empty chanting of the faithful, but by the life of one person who preached a message of simplicity, peace, love, hope, joy, faith, forgiveness and the light of goodness. Good people have followed in the tradition of St. Francis, and one does not have to be a practicing Catholic, or a practicing anything, to appreciate the words of St. Francis. I think the Peace Community who takes Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Henry David Thoreau rightly as its icons can also look to St. Francis for guidance and inspiration.
One of St. Francis's most simple yet important and meaningful works is … which I assume wasn't his title for it, because he wasn't yet a Saint when he wrote it- the
"Peace Prayer of St. Francis"
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon, Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy!
Oh master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Casey's light will shine always as long as there are people working for peace.
By Mohammed Omer
Young Maria Ismail Abu Jaser holds a picture of her imprisoned father at a Dec. 3 demonstration in front of the International Red Cross office in Gaza City.
Stretching her short arms above her head while balancing on a chair, 7-year-old Jumana Abu Jazar struggles to loop the picture wire around a rusty nail protruding from the wall. Shifting her weight, she spoke, her delicate voice amplified as it bounced off the wall.
“My mother died and I have no brothers and sisters,” she stated matter-of-factly, biting her lower lip and cocking her head to match the picture’s tilt. “My father is in jail, in an Israeli jail where he is forced to live in a dark cell.”
Administrative Detention vs. Habeas Corpus
The principle of habeas corpus (literally “bring forth the body”) is a right guaranteed by the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners of war—which is why Israel describes the thousands of Palestinians it has detained as security threats.
Israel circumvents granting the right of habeas corpus to Palestinian prisoners via a draconian measure euphemistically described as administrative detention, whereby it can arrest, torture and imprison a person without cause, without trial and without conviction. A person can be held for six months under administrative detention—but the sentence can be renewed indefinitely. Currently 863 Palestinians have been held for 15 years or more under administrative detention.
Torture
Torture and confessions obtained through torture are still common practice in Israel. According to Israeli human rights groups, Shin Bet security forces regularly use torture on Palestinian prisoners. A report published recently by B’Tselem and HaMoked, The Center for Defense of Individuals, documented the experiences of 73 prisoners arrested between July 2005 and March 2006. It found that the Shin Bet routinely used “beatings, painful binding, back bending, body stretching and prolonged sleep deprivation” on Palestinian prisoners. Each of these tactics, according to the report, constitutes torture under international law.
A Christmas Reflection on Palestine
By SONJA KARKAR
As Christmas approaches this year, the thoughts of Christians all over the world will once again turn to Bethlehem, the holy town where Jesus was born over two millennia ago. Voices will be raised in joyful celebration and children everywhere will re-create the Christmas story to help us remember the circumstances in which the Christ child was born.
Such a momentous occasion in such humble surroundings heralded a new way of thinking about people's relationship with God and with each other. It shook the foundations of an unforgiving society presided over by an unforgiving God and proclaimed peace and goodwill on earth amongst all people. There was indeed much to hope for.
However, the tranquil pastoral scene so familiar to us is not at all evident in Bethlehem today. Bethlehem does not lie still, and peace on earth and goodwill towards all is as elusive as ever. The tyranny of Israel's occupation and its colonial expansionism is crippling the lives of both Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike. Yet, many Christians will again ignore the misery suffered by the Palestinians in the Holy Land and will celebrate Christmas without remembering that it was amongst this people and in their land that Jesus was born. Priests will chant, masses will be said, carols will be sung and nativity scenes will be created, but it is unlikely that many sermons will urge Christian congregations to speak out against the crimes being committed in Palestine...
by Ramy Abdu
About 60 years have passed since our Palestinian
catastrophe (Nakba). Palestinian people have
passed through and tasted several sufferings and
calamities, and the Gaza Strip, which includes
about 1.5 million people, 75% of them refugees,
got a big share of this suffering.
...the harsh siege imposed on the
Gaza Strip has been continuing for the past seven
months, but with more cruelty. Accordingly, the
Gaza Strip has turned into a big "Ghetto".
All Gaza houses carry stories of pain and suffering!
Since PCAS started working to face this siege, it
has contacted many figures and parties. Yet, we
have not heard any position or stance that has
been taken. There are no factual actions to
alleviate the suffering of people.
Thus, we call upon you and we ask persons of conscious to move on and please do something, even by words, in order to help tens of thousands to avoid a crisis that seems inevitable.
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