tagged w/ Ethnic Cleansing
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The sad history of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing in North America begins with the story of the British expulsion of the Acadians in 1755. Professor Amy Sturgis explains that the Acadians were peaceful French colonists who had prospered in Nova Scotia. The British forcibly removed the Acadians from their homes and scattered them across North America. The expulsion effectively ended the Acadian way of life forever. How might U.S. history have been different if this first ethnic cleansing had never occurred? How might America be different today if the Acadians' property and rights had been respected? Might the Acadian way of life have influenced the United States for the better?
http://youtu.be/KbjrUAl3yBsThe sad history of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing in North America begins with the... more
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The northeast Libyan town of Tawergha, formerly home to about 40,000 people, is now a “ghost town” after intense fighting last year ended in the city’s capture and the total displacement of its population. oday, Tawergha is marked by scores of empty buildings and houses, many of which are either burnt out or reduced to rubble. NATO airstrikes on pro-Gaddafi strongholds devastated much of the city during the battle of Tawergha in August 2011. Rebel militias explained that a number of houses in the town were used by Gaddafi loyalists to stock heavy weapons and artillery and that citizens of Tawergha were used as human shields during the conflict ------- http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/recent-news/43053-libya-tawergha-city-of-former-slaves-no-longer-exists-ethnic-cleansing-and-genocideThe northeast Libyan town of Tawergha, formerly home to about 40,000 people, is now a... more
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worrg
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This month, Israel celebrated its 63rd year of existence as a Jewish state. Interestingly, not everyone is in agreement as to how this state came into being. But there is only one set of facts which cannot be disputed. When a land is carved out from within another land to accommodate a new group of people, the ones who were organic to the original parcel of land must be displaced. As you will hear in the accompanying video, some Palestinians still hold the keys to the houses of their forefathers which are now Israeli property.
For this reason, the Palestinians have dubbed Israel's Independence Day their 'nakba' or catastrophe. Not all Israelis are insensitive to this displacement and the discrimination that has ensued since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. During the celebration, one man has the courage to post a sign in German which explains the new Israel anti-Nakba law which was just passed by the Knesset. It simply states that it is illegal to honor or mourn the Nakba during Israel's day of independence. What is noteworthy in the video is the fact that we do see that Zionism and Judaism are not interchangeable.
But why is the 2011 Nakba different than other Nakbas?
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Israel, the legacy of 1948 and the Palestinian Nakba - National Foreign Policy | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/foreign-policy-in-national/israel-the-legacy-of-1948-and-the-palestinian-nakba#ixzz1MNgI1jsZThis month, Israel celebrated its 63rd year of existence as a Jewish state.... more
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A recent report from Enough Project ranked the top 21 electronics manufacturers, showing their progress in creating products with conflict-free minerals and the steps they've taken to ensure that. EP estimates that conflict mining is a $185 million business, which is even more shocking when you consider the World Bank says average the average miner makes only $5 a day.
====== report ===================
By Michelle Castillo, TechLand, on December 15, 2010
Many of our electronic devices are made up of minerals like tantalum, used to make the capacitors in most cell phones, and tin, which makes up the inside lining of some cell phones and is used to solder circuit boards. Unfortunately, many of these materials come from conflict-ridden areas of the Congo, where increasing profits from electronic sales help fund the inhumane treatment of people who live and work in the country. The Enough Project, an advocacy group focused on ending genocide and crimes against humanity, estimates that conflict mining is a $185 million business, which is even more shocking when you consider the World Bank says average the average miner makes only $5 a day.
According to Raise Hope for Congo, more than 5.4 million people have died from the continuous wars that ravage the country. The organization urges people to tell companies that they want conflict free products. Congo's minerals are especially attractive to electronic manufacturers because of unregulated mining practices and cheap labor. Minerals from the African nation cost half or a third as much the same materials from other countries, according to the Washington Post. Though the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act requires manufacturers to identify and get rid of conflict minerals in their products and similar legislation will be mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2011, Congolese mines are often controlled by armed groups and militias. These groups smuggle the minerals out of the country to smelting companies on other continents, which means the origin of the minerals can often be masked even from the company commissioning the product. Even though Congo's president announced a ban on all artisanal mining in eastern Congo last August, the ruling has not been enforced by the country's national military and has even negatively affected the citizens who work in the mines as a main source of income.
A recent report from Enough Project ranked the top 21 electronics manufacturers, showing their progress in creating products with conflict-free minerals and the steps they've taken to ensure that. Leading the pack was HP with an over 30 percent improvement. The company has endorsed anti-conflict mineral legislation and advocates for strong US regulations for all manufacturers. Apple, who uses tantalum not only in their smartphones but in iPods as well, were given a yellow score, which means there is much room for improvement. (Though several of their top executives have spoken out against conflict mineral mining in the Congo, they did not weigh in on key US conflict mineral legislation.) Toshiba received the worst score of the bunch; they have barely made any changes at all according to the study. Enough Project knows it may be hard for the average consumer to tell whether or not they are helping fund a war over natural resources just by looking at a product. Still, the group hopes that especially this holiday season when people are out shopping for the latest gadgets that by being little more knowledgeable about which companies are taking a stand against genocide and human rights abuses, shoppers can judge for themselves whether or not to support these crimes against humanity.
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Is Your Mobile Device or Laptop Funding Conflict Mineral Wars?
By Michelle Castillo on December 15, 2010
http://techland.time.com/2010/12/15/is-your-mobile-device-or-laptop-funding-conflict-wars/A recent report from Enough Project ranked the top 21 electronics manufacturers,... more
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The United Nations has ordered 900 peacekeepers to a remote region of Democratic Republic of Congo, where the LRA killed more than 1,000 adults and children around Christmas in 2008 and 2009 and kidnapped hundreds more, to head off feared Christmas attacks by Lord's Resistance Army fighters.
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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations has ordered 900 peacekeepers to a remote region of Democratic Republic of Congo, to head off feared Christmas attacks by Lord's Resistance Army fighters, a spokesman said Tuesday.
UN forces will go to a region where the LRA killed more than 1,000 adults and children around Christmas in 2008 and 2009 and kidnapped hundreds more.
The UN mission in DR Congo is also sending extra humanitarian supplies to the region, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.
A special operation against the LRA has been launched in the Dungu district of Upper Uele region and would carry on until mid-January because of fears of the "holiday season" attacks, Nesirky said.
The announcement came after the UN Security Council called for greater international action against the LRA, which is led by Joseph Kony who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The LRA sprang out of a rebellion in Uganda in the 1980s but now terrorizes communities in Central African Republic, southern Sudan and DR Congo.
The Security Council welcomed an African Union move to set up a joint task force to fight the LRA and deploy joint border patrols.
"It calls for the countries of the region to enhance coordination and information sharing regarding the the threat posed by the LRA," said a Security Council statement on efforts to bring peace to Central African Republic.
Ugandan special forces currently lead the international hunt for Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In December 2008, LRA fighters killed 865 men, women and children in the northeastern DR Congo and in southern Sudan, and kidnapped hundreds of others.
A year later 300 people were murdered between December 14 and 17, also in northeast DR Congo.
The United States has promised to support a new effort to catch Kony and halt the conflict generated by the LRA, but in a report titled "Ghosts of Christmas Past," 19 aid agencies said the Security Council should do more.
The report said LRA attacks remote communities in Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo almost four times a week.
"These communities await Christmas with fear," added the groups, who include Oxfam, Christian Aid, Refugees International, World Vision and War Child UK, among others.
The UN refugee agency said in October that the rebels had killed 2,000 people since December 2008, kidnapped more than 2,600 and displaced more than 400,000 in DR Congo, the Central African Republic and southern Sudan.
"The acute suffering and mass population displacement the LRA has generated across international borders is undermining stability in an already fragile region, where southern Sudan is preparing to hold a landmark referendum on secession in early 2011," the report said.
The aid groups welcomed recent steps by the United States and the African Union. But it said kidnapped people had to be helped to return home and villages had to be protected.
The aid groups called on the UN Security Council to set up an expert panel as "there is a chronic lack of information about the motivation, composition and location of the LRA."
The LRA began their rebellion in northern Uganda in the late 1980s, but have not carried out an attack there since 2006.
Since south Sudanese-hosted peace talks broke down in 2008, the fighters have roamed the jungles of central Africa and been repeatedly blamed for the slaughter of defenseless civilians.
The African Union has said the LRA should be called "terrorists" rather than rebels.
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UN peacekeepers to head off Christmas massacre
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iduTBApHLCmGUF9clnqdrlk-L8TQ?docId=CNG.a3cd72112889141b0229f761dc840322.2a1
(AFP) – Dec 13, 2010The United Nations has ordered 900 peacekeepers to a remote region of Democratic... more
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Leaders from 11 nations in the conflict-ravaged Great Lakes region of central Africa on Tuesday signed a pledge – partly drafted by a Canadian organization – to stamp out the illegal trade of conflict minerals.
Signed at a summit in the Zambian capital of Lusaka by governments including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, the pledge commits signatory states to take steps to implement a regional certification system to track such minerals as they are exported from Africa for smelting in Asia.
The summit was called to address mining practices that have helped to fuel mass rapes and massacres in the eastern provinces of Congo. The illegitimate mining of minerals such as coltan, tungsten, tin and gold, which are used in electronic devices, is widespread in the region and often finances armed groups.
Among the mechanisms to be implemented is a “bag-and-tag” system in which minerals are tagged at their point of origin. The African nations also said they would create a database to make it easier to identify and track minerals that originate in areas of conflict.
The move by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region comes as governments in the United States, Canada and Europe consider legislation that would make roughly 6,000 manufacturers, including BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., responsible for tracking the minerals used in their products.
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PLEASE GO AND READ THE ARTICLE !
IAIN MARLOW AND OMAR EL AKKAD
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010 2:02PM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010 6:57PM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/african-leaders-pledge-to-wipe-out-trade-of-conflict-minerals/article1839121/?cmpid=rss1Leaders from 11 nations in the conflict-ravaged Great Lakes region of central Africa... more
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Hundreds of women and children were raped over and over during 3 days in July, another incident reported in August... estimates indicate many thousands of women and girls are brutalized each year on a gross scale ...for the creature comforts of civilized society. Efforts to combat illicit mining of coltan and other minerals are gaining traction, as politicians in Canada and other Western governments look to establish tough penalties against the practice. When we glance at the holocaust in Congo, with about 7 million dead, the clichés of Africa reporting tumble out: this is a "tribal conflict" in "the Heart of Darkness". It isn't. The United Nations investigation found it was a ****war led by "armies of business" to seize the metals*** that make our 21st-century society zing and bling. The war in Congo is a war about you.
(Mash-Quoted from various articles included below. When you see 5.4 million quoted, that is up to 2007, estimates for up to today are at 6.5 to 7 million.)
"Dr. Mukwege [see below] believes the number of women who have been raped since the beginning of the conflict is far higher than the U.N. estimates of 200,000-300,000, saying the real figure is more like half a million."
Over 6,000 rape incidents a year (in recent years) are conservatively estimated based just on what gets reported.
And we do not see the continuing dismemberment and murders (possibly decapitations), nor much footage from the few doctors you may read about working in the tranches.
"Exploited African oil, coltan, chocolate, bauxite, gold, coffee, platinum, chromium, iron, gas, flowers, agriculture and animals are dripping in the blood of African people, making billions of dollars for Europe and America. "
"In the end, it will be consumer education and pressure that will make the difference."
Lets wake up. There's more we can be doing...
Over 10 years, and its still going strong... "The mining industry in that country relies on slave labour, violence and sexual assault. Since the popularity of smartphones has risen, warlords in the country have taken control of the mines to retrieve the precious metal, then sell it on the international market to manufacturers of the gadgets that will ultimately end up under our Christmas trees." more at this link-->
http://www.care2.com/causes/human-rights/blog/smartphones-the-new-blood-diamonds/
Consider how much of this is about our cell phones and laptops, DVD players, computers, digital cameras, video games, vehicle air bags, jewelry (gold and diamonds), chocolate, and more... all the things so many feel they cannot live without [sic].
And so what can we do? What are we doing? Are we forgetting to keep an eye on this?
The main article prompting me to post is marked as such below. I have included a lot of links to other interesting articles, almost all within the last couple months. There are a couple of key things we all can be doing...
- we need to keep an eye on manufacturers and govt actions behind the statute in the Dodd-Frank bill discussed below
- there's a really provocative video in my third post below, please check it out... the ideas expressed there seem to make very good sense for changing things that matter.
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Q&A: DR Congo conflict (first, a little down and dirty overview)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11108589
"In November 2009, a report by UN-commissioned experts said UN involvement had done nothing to quell the violence - with rebels continuing to kill and plunder natural resources with impunity and claims the rebels are supported by an international crime network stretching through Africa to Western Europe and North America."
Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1072684.stm
Prevalence of Rape in E. Congo Described as Worst in World (sep 2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/08/AR2007090801194.html
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MAIN ARTICLE
IPS: Activists Slam World's "Grotesque Indifference"
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=44965
The following are Excerpts - go read the article:
"TORONTO, Canada, Dec 3 (IPS) - International lust for the enormous mineral and resource riches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) abetted by international indifference has turned much of country into a colossal "rape mine" where more than 300,000 women and girls have been brutalised, say activists."
""Rape is being used as a deliberate tool to control people and territory," said Eve Ensler, a celebrated U.S. playwright and founder of V-Day, a global movement in 120 countries to end violence against women and girls."
"This "blood coltan" - akin to blood diamonds -
**generates billions of dollars of sales every year for electronics manufacturers in rich countries***
and brings
****hundreds of millions of dollars to rebels and others who control the coltan-producing regions.****
Coltan is also produced in other countries, and the DRC's "blood coltan" is often transported to those countries to give it a sheen of conflict-free provenance. "
There is a lot of news brewing if you look for it. I am disconcerted to seen almost none of it on Current. So you will forgive me if I post what may seem like to much information... I don't think you can have too much of this information and awareness about this.
What is ailing them is not isolated to "them over there". WE are a strong hand in their lives, and deaths, and suffering, by what we do, and what we fail to do.
Do you think it matters to be making an effort during your news sojourns 'out there' to find and read some news in/on Africa?Hundreds of women and children were raped over and over during 3 days in July, another... more
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Earl ofari Hutchinson sits down with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to discuss the War on gangs and policing the community.Earl ofari Hutchinson sits down with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to discuss the War on... more
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Hassan
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Voight asks, "Is President Obama creating a civil war?"
Actor Jon Voight is on his way to Cincinnati, and Atlanta, in order to participate in Fox News host Sean Hannity's latest "Freedom Concerts." But first, he paused long enough to share some extra nuttiness with the Washington Times.
"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Voight said in an interview with the paper.
He continued:
We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true ...
Do not let the Obama administration fool you with all their cunning Alinsky methods. And if you don't know what that method is, I implore you to get the book "Rules for Radicals," by Saul Alinsky. Mr. Obama is very well trained in these methods.
The real truth is that the Obama administration is professional at bullying, as we have witnessed with ACORN at work during the presidential campaign. It seems to me they are sending down their bullies to create fist fights among average American citizens who don't want a government-run health care plan forced upon them. So I ask again: Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?Voight asks, "Is President Obama creating a civil war?"
Actor Jon Voight... more
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Letting the Sudanese government get away with massive ethnic cleansing (possibly genocide) in Darfur could come back to bite the West in the butt years or decades from now.Letting the Sudanese government get away with massive ethnic cleansing (possibly... more
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At the Arab League summit Monday, the UN secretary general condemned Sudan's expulsion of humanitarian aid groups in response to the ICC arrest warrant for Bashir.At the Arab League summit Monday, the UN secretary general condemned Sudan's... more
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Hundreds of Uighur Muslims crowded into at least one mosque in riot-stricken Urumqi on Friday after authorities relented on a decision to close mosques for the main day of prayer to minimize ethnic tension.
Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the afternoon prayers will be a test of the government's ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday.
Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.
The decision to silence collective prayers could rankle, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh Uighur protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.
Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
About 500 Uighurs surged outside the White Mosque, in a Uighur neighborhood, trying to join about 1,000 packed inside for prayers. Worshippers who emerged said the normal prayers had been shortened.
"I'm glad they are letting us in today," said a middle-aged Uighur named Ahmedadji. "There would have been a lot of unhappiness if they hadn't."
SUSPENSION NOTICES
Other mosques frequented by Hui, a Muslim group akin to Han Chinese, opened their doors on Friday after crowds of a few hundred worshippers began shouting.
Mosques in the overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi earlier displayed notices that prayers had been suspended.
A cluster of Uighurs outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque said they were angry and disappointed it hadn't opened.
"We feel we are being insulted. This is our mosque. But we are not allowed in, while they let in non-believers," said a young man, pointing out that Chinese security forces had been stationed inside and even in the minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway.
"Under instructions from superiors, normal prayer will be suspended from today," said a notice at the gateway of the nearby Guyuan Mosque. It was dated Wednesday. "Anybody wishing to pray ... please do so at home."Hundreds of Uighur Muslims crowded into at least one mosque in riot-stricken Urumqi on... more
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Kepano
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The much anticipated speech by Benjamin Netanyahu is in progress; the only channel carrying the event live is al-Jazeera. Not CNN, not C-SPAN, but al-Jazeera.
As I listen to the Prime Minister, I am not surprised to hear revisionist history being told once again. According to Netanyahu, the core issue, aside from the 'imminent' threat paused by Iran, is the refusal of Arab states to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state.
He had the courage to declare that if people are under the impression that the roadblock to peace is the Israeli 'occupation', he is about to disabuse those people of the notion.The much anticipated speech by Benjamin Netanyahu is in progress; the only channel... more
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There is no doubt that President Obama's speech in Egypt elicited an avalanche of reactions; most positive, some negative. Many saw the choice of a dictatorship country from which to address the Muslim world with a blasé attitude.Egypt and Mubarak made absolutely sure that there would be no dissent visible to the eye on the day of Obama's address. Shops were ordered to be closed, and the press reported what it was told. The people in Egypt who are hoping for democratic reform were disappointed.There is no doubt that President Obama's speech in Egypt elicited an avalanche of... more
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For all of its rhetoric about bringing people to justice, and instituting democratic values wherever it can through diplomacy, the State Department doesn't look good in this particular case.
Karadzic, who had been arrested and extradited to the Hague for his war crimes against humanity, has been crying foul for quite some time now, pointing to a promise made to him by now Ambassador Richard Holbrooke for immunity. Mr. Holbrooke has continued to deny any such arrangement with Karadzic.For all of its rhetoric about bringing people to justice, and instituting democratic... more
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It's been twenty five years that the Tamil Tigers have struggled for their independence. And yesterday, for the first time, they were desperate enough to say they would lay down their arms and surrender. There are worrisome signs that a mass suicide might ensue; despite a government order to stop firing in the area where the remainder of the rebels and civilians were trapped, doctors and independent witnesses reported continued heavy shelling by government troops.It's been twenty five years that the Tamil Tigers have struggled for their... more
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It took a war for Americans to find out there was a place in the world called Kosovo. The name is also heard bound with the term 'former Yugoslavia'. The Center for Balkan Development indicates that until 1991, Yugoslavia was one nation comprised of six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Serbia was further divided into two autonomous regions; Kosovo and Vojvodina. Each republic and both autonomous provinces in Serbia had a seat on the federal presidency and had a considerable amount of autonomy in local affairs. With one notable exception--Bosnia--each of the republics roughly represents a distinct ethnic group. Today each of the republics of the former Yugoslavia use their own language, but they are all Slavic languages similar to Serbo-Croatian.It took a war for Americans to find out there was a place in the world called Kosovo.... more
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Former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic in undergoing a trial at the Hague for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He was arrested in Belgrade on July 21, 2008 after thirteen years of hiding, and was extradited for judgment at the Hague.
Karadzic has assumed his own defense, and once again, requested the International Criminal Court to petition information from the United States and Sweden that he alleges will prove he was promised judiciary immunity. Radovan Karadzic continues to insist that Richard Holbrooke had promised him he would not have to face any legal ramifications if he were to retire from public life after peace had been restored to Bosnia.Former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic in undergoing a trial at the Hague for... more
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Americans have a mixed view of the war in the Gaza Strip, and see it in much the same way as they viewed Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in 2006. While continuing to express strong general support for Israel, the public offers limited approval of Israel’s decision to take military action in Gaza. However, Hamas is largely seen as primarily responsible for the outbreak of violence.
These are the principal findings of the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Jan. 7-11 among 1,503 adults reached on landlines and cell phones. Overall public support for Israel has been undiminished by the war: 49% now say they sympathize with Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians while just 11% sympathize with the Palestinians. This division of opinion largely mirrors public attitudes in August 2006 during the Hezbollah war.
For those that want the facts, and not an opinion piece, here is the actual Pew Research poll results. Also in the report are the numbers from previous years. There is some interesting information in there. It seems the Dem "sympathy" for Israelis has essentially not changed in 15 years, but Rep support has increased dramatically. So rather than support for Israel declining for Dems, the 65 to 45 merely reflects even more support from Reps after the beginning of the "war on terror" and about the same for Dems.
More at the website to include poll resultsAmericans have a mixed view of the war in the Gaza Strip, and see it in much the same... more
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Why am I not surprised. For a country to be saying they are not committing human rights violations and then throw out the agency that polices this is like telling the police officer he cannot search the vehicle because he smelled pot.
Something is surely rotten, and its not in Denmark.
Richard Falk, a Jewish law professor at New York University, is the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories. He had also personally infuriated Israelis when he compared Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories with those of the Nazis during World War II.
I guess he thinks if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck...then, it sure the heck IS a flucking duck!!
Here is the article, and there is more at the link.--------------------------
Israel's decision to expel a U.S. expert on human rights was a "dangerous" move that contravened mandates given to rights advocates working for the United Nations, the UN General Assembly president said Monday.
Richard Falk was detained at Jerusalem's airport on Sunday and then deported back to the United States. Falk's mandate, given by the 192-nation assembly, is to assess the situation in Palestinian territories.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that Falk was "unwelcome in Israel."
A Foreign Ministry statement said Falk's visit was uncoordinated and was conducted without the state's authorization and he was therefore turned around.
Israel has long complained about the mandate Falk took over earlier this year, saying it is biased in favor of the Palestinians and prevents the expert from making any comments about human rights abuses committed against Israelis.
He had also personally infuriated Israelis when he compared Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories with those of the Nazis during World War II.
A Foreign Ministry statement explained the decision, saying "in the case of Prof. Falk, beyond the imbalance inherent in his mandate, the bias is further exacerbated by the highly politicized views of the Rapporteur himself, in legitimizing Hamas terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust. In light of his vehement publications in the past, it is hard to square his appointment with the requirements of the Council's own internal procedures which call for the appointment of mandate holders who are impartial, objective and possess the quality of personal integrity."
Assembly president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, who has also criticized Israel in the past, said the Israeli government took a "dangerous decision ... to rebuff UN mandates and UN-appointed mandate holders."
"This again is not conducive to the good climate that the president of the General Assembly is trying to promote," he said in a statement.
Falk, a law professor at New York University, is the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Miguel d'Escoto said Falk was investigating "human rights violations that affected the protected civilian population of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most urgently he intended to investigate the rising humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip resulting from siege of Gaza's 1.5 million population imposed by the occupying power."
Israel earlier this month had lodged a rare protest against Miguel d'Escoto, who criticized the international community for failing to help Palestinians establish an independent state after 60 years on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Why am I not surprised. For a country to be saying they are not committing human... more
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