Hiya
After a few posts in which I celebrated an almost hedonistic indulgence of wonderful food, here's something a bit weightier.
One of my favourite people has forwarded to me an essay about why the peaceful but silent majority doesn't matter when it comes to extremism and fanatic killers.
The essay is thought-provoking and most of what it claims is quite true. However, there are several problems with the text, starting with the author: a one-minute search of the Web tells me that the essay, actually written in 1997, is not by Emanuel Tanay but by Paul E. Marek.
Looking a little further, I found Marek's blog. He is actually a duo that presents itself as "A Father (Paul) and his Canadian Forces Son (Junker) blogging from the Right side of the aisle." While Marek & son don't paint the world in black and white, they certainly seem to have no time for a critical examination of the massive failings of our, i.e. Western, society.
And that's what bothers me a whole lot more than the false attribution of authorship in the forwarded message, which in itself is bad enough. The essay fails to mention the horrendous exploitation by western "explorers" and their backers of huge swathes of the rest of the world. Not a word is said about the obscene amount of money that our governments (especially the US and UK govts.) are throwing at the people they claim to "protect", not in the form of food, education, infrastructure, health care, but in the form of guns, bombs, destruction, death, rape, murder. Click here to watch the dollars being wasted on warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 --- the mind boggles!
It's not as though that was a recent phenomenon -- it's been going on at least since Christopher Columbus first set foot on what he thought were the shores of India in 1492.
The constructive, positive things that could have been done with this money! Misinformation, greed, vengefulness, lack of justice, lack of education, lack of prospects push young people into the paths of fanatical leaders -- it was true in Germany, it is true now. How about supporting peace work and teaching people how to resolve conflicts in a non-violent way?
There's a debate raging over here (UK/Scotland) about the cost of human lives. One of the latest news headlines is about ministerial aide Eric Joyce, who quit Gordon Brown's cabinet on Thursday in protest. The Brits are getting itchy to get out of Afghanistan because to date 212 British soldiers have lost their lives in combat there since 2001. That is 212 lives too many and my heart goes out to the families of these mostly young people. However, it pales in comparison to the loss of civilian lives in Afghanistan -- tellingly, no-one has been keeping a tally on that number.
Might I also remind everyone of the loss of lives to famines, disease, misguided or blatantly absent health policies, and, to bring in a killer of the first order in the western world, road accidents. For example, in 2008, 272 people were killed on Scotland's roads, 2,535 were recorded as seriously injured and 12,756 suffered "slight" injury (source: The Scottish Government website, accessed a few minutes ago).
Exploring the reasons why this number is so high would merit another hour or two of thinking and research.
Nuff said for now -- I bid you a very good night and a wonderful weekend -- wars and death and wanton destruction notwithstanding -- and look forward to your comments.
PEACE!
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Monday, February 04, 2008
Appeal against death sentence handed down to Afghan journalist
Hello again
Very late in the day, but hopefully not too late, I'd like to encourage you to join me in an appeal to Afghan President Hamid Kharzai. The death penalty is always wrong, no matter what. It is particularly wrong when it comes to punishing or threatening people who exert their right to speak out.
Thank you for joining me in the effort to save this young man's life.
****
International PEN
AFGHANISTAN: Journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh sentenced to death for blasphemy.
Author(s): Cathy McCann - WiPC Asia and Middle East Researcher
Date: 24th January, 2008
RAN 02/08
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is shocked by the death sentence handed down to journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh on 22 January 2008 for blasphemy. International PEN calls upon President Hamid Karzai to personally intervene in this case as a matter of urgency, and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to PEN’s information, twenty-three year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, journalism student at Balkh university and reporter for the local daily Jahan-e-Naw (The New World), was arrested on 27 October 2007 in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, northern Afghanistan for distributing allegedly anti-Islamic literature. He was detained by National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces on blasphemy charges after downloading and giving to friends an article that allegedly said the Prophet Mohammed ignored women’s rights. He was not the author of the article. He was also reportedly accused of possessing allegedly anti-Islamic books and starting un-Islamic debates in his classes. Whilst Kambakhsh admits to circulating the article, he denies the accusations of blasphemy.
Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was tried by an Islamic court in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, on 22 January 2008, and sentenced to death. The trial was reportedly held behind closed doors, and he had no legal representation. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh is feared to be targeted for association with his brother, prominent journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, who works for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting and has been under escalating pressure for his critical reporting on local officials and warlords.
Please send appeals:
- Expressing shock at the death sentence handed down to journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh on blasphemy charges;
- calling for President Karzai to intervene to secure his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Afghan law and Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Please send courteously worded appeals to:
His Excellency Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan
Kabul
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
If possible please send appeals c/o the Ambassador for Afghanistan in your country.
***
P.S.: in Switzerland, the address is:
Afghanistan Consulate, Switzerland
63, rue de Lausanne
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
Phone: +41-22-7311449
Fax: +41-22-7314510
e-mail:
Very late in the day, but hopefully not too late, I'd like to encourage you to join me in an appeal to Afghan President Hamid Kharzai. The death penalty is always wrong, no matter what. It is particularly wrong when it comes to punishing or threatening people who exert their right to speak out.
Thank you for joining me in the effort to save this young man's life.
****
International PEN
AFGHANISTAN: Journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh sentenced to death for blasphemy.
Author(s): Cathy McCann - WiPC Asia and Middle East Researcher
Date: 24th January, 2008
RAN 02/08
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is shocked by the death sentence handed down to journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh on 22 January 2008 for blasphemy. International PEN calls upon President Hamid Karzai to personally intervene in this case as a matter of urgency, and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to PEN’s information, twenty-three year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, journalism student at Balkh university and reporter for the local daily Jahan-e-Naw (The New World), was arrested on 27 October 2007 in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, northern Afghanistan for distributing allegedly anti-Islamic literature. He was detained by National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces on blasphemy charges after downloading and giving to friends an article that allegedly said the Prophet Mohammed ignored women’s rights. He was not the author of the article. He was also reportedly accused of possessing allegedly anti-Islamic books and starting un-Islamic debates in his classes. Whilst Kambakhsh admits to circulating the article, he denies the accusations of blasphemy.
Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was tried by an Islamic court in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, on 22 January 2008, and sentenced to death. The trial was reportedly held behind closed doors, and he had no legal representation. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh is feared to be targeted for association with his brother, prominent journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, who works for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting and has been under escalating pressure for his critical reporting on local officials and warlords.
Please send appeals:
- Expressing shock at the death sentence handed down to journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh on blasphemy charges;
- calling for President Karzai to intervene to secure his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Afghan law and Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Please send courteously worded appeals to:
His Excellency Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan
Kabul
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
If possible please send appeals c/o the Ambassador for Afghanistan in your country.
***
P.S.: in Switzerland, the address is:
Afghanistan Consulate, Switzerland
63, rue de Lausanne
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
Phone: +41-22-7311449
Fax: +41-22-7314510
e-mail:
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