The Egyptian government has announced it’s severing all ties to
the Syrian government and backing the rebel fight seeking to oust
Bashar al-Assad. On Saturday, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi told
supporters he’s closing the Syrian embassy in Cairo and recalling his
government’s envoy from Damascus.
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Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi: "The Syrian people
are facing a campaign of extermination and planned ethnic cleansing,
fed by regional and international states who do not care for the Syrian
citizen. The people of Egypt support the struggle of the Syrian people,
materially and morally. And Egypt — its nation, leadership and army —
will not abandon the Syrian people until it achieves its rights and
dignity."
In his comments, Morsi also
called on the international community to
enforce a no-fly zone over Syria and urged all Hezbollah members
fighting alongside Assad’s forces to return to Lebanon. In response, the
Syrian government said Morsi has joined the "conspiracy and incitement
led by the United States and Israel against Syria." The U.S. has denied
pressuring Egypt on Syria.
العاهل السعودي يقطع إجازته بالمغرب بسبب تطورات المنطقة
لم
أفهم ولم يفهم غيري من ملايين العرب ماذا يعني هذا الخبر الذي تصدر
النشرات ألإخبارية الخليجية وألذي جاء على الصفحات ألأولى وتصدر عناوين
الصحف والمجلات والقنوات الإخبارية وجاء على رأس عناوين ألأخبار في ألصفحة
ألألكترونية لقناة ألعربية. فلماذا قطع إجازته وعاد من المغرب وما الدور
الذي سيلعبه ألآن في المؤامرة التي أشعل فتيلها في سوريا؟
هل
سيقود جحافل الجيوش ألإسلامية والتي سيتقدمها أمراء وأميرات آل سعود وبقية
حكام ألخليج ألذين لم يخوضوا حربا طوال حياتهم. أم سيجلس في قصره مستمتعا
بما لذ وطاب من ألأكل والشراب والحسان بينما الشعب السوري يذبح عن بكرة
ابيه بتمويل من حكومته وتوجيه من اسرائيل وامريكا؟ هل يعرف أحد منكم ألجواب
أفيدونا أفادكم ألله. ماذا سيفعل هذا الحاكم حيال الوضع في سوريا؟ هل
سيسلح المعارضة والتي هي أصلا مسلحة ومدربة ومجهزة من أموال آل سعود ولم
يبقى أي نوع من السلاح الا وأرسل الي عصابات ألتكفير وألتهجير والقتل
والتدمير؟ لم يبق أسلوب خسيس الا واتبعه هو واسياده حتى بلغت ألأمور ما
بلغته هناك من أوضاع مزرية يندى لها الجبين. فلقد لفقت قنواته الأخبار
وفبركت القصص والحكايات عن جرائم وهمية ارتكبها النظام السوري مدعوما بجيشه
البطل. وعرض تحريضي لجرائم نسبت الى الجيش السوري ليتضح لاحقا ان منفذيها
لم يكونوا سوى افراد العصابات الوهابية والإجرامية والتكفيرية والتي ارسلت
إلى سوريا للقضاء على آخر معاقل الرجولة والشهامة والبطولة خدمة لأعداء
العرب والمسلمين
إذن ما هو ألأمر
ألخطير ألذي أستدعى أن يعود عبد الله من المغرب ويعود على عجالة؟ ربما يكون
الوضع السوري أحد هذه الأسباب مع أنني أشك في هذا. وأغلب الظن ان هناك
مؤامرة ضده تنظم داخل عائلة آل سعود للإنقلاب عليه وإستلام مقاليد الحكم.
فقبل أن يذهب لقضاء إجازته كان الوضع في سوريا أكثر تأزما ومع ذلك لم يأبه
هادم الحرمين بكل ذلك وشد الرحال الى المغرب ولا أدري لماذا المغرب مع أن
أمراء وأميرات عائلته لا يحلو لهم الإستجمام والسياحة والتسوق إلاّ في بلاد
العم سام والدول الغربية
ألمهم أن
ألرجل عاد على عجالة من أمره ليتابع مشهد آخر من مشاهد التدمير والذي أعد
له جيدا على مدى سنوات ليبلغ هذا المنحنى من الحرب المدمرة. أمريكا لا تلعب
ولا تمزح وهي مصممة على إكمال هذه المهزلة من المبررات الوهمية لتدخلها
العسكري في سوريا. تماما كما فعلت في العراق وليبيا. ونحن كعرب نصفق ونهلل
بل وحتى نطالب وبقوة ان تتدخل امريكا وبأسرع وقت ممكن لتقضي على آخر معاقل
ألصمود في وجه ألغطرسة ألصهيونية وألإمبريالية. نطالبها أن تسلح ألمعارضة
بأسلحة فتاكة ومدمرة ونسينا ان هذه الدولة هي نفسها التي ترفض حتى ان تبيع
لنا أسلحة دفاعية لمواجهة إسرائيل. ما ألذي لم شمل ألشامي على المغربي كما
يقول ألمثل؟ لماذا هذا الحرص من قبل ألإدارة ألأمريكية على المضي قدما
وألإستمرار في تدمير سوريا
إذا
تدخلت أمريكا وعربان ألخليج في هذه الحرب فستفتح كل أبواب جهنم على المنطقة
ولن تنعم المنطقة لا بالأمن ولا بالسلآم لمئات ألسنين ألقادمة. فاذا كانت
حرب العراق والتي حظيت بتاييد غالبية دول ألعالم لا زالت لحد ألآن لم تهدأ
ولن تهدأ، فكيف للحرب ألسورية والتي ينقسم ألعالم حول أهدافها ومبرراتها أن
تنتهي حسب خيال هؤلاء المغامرين. نعود إلى أسد ألأسود عبد الله بن عبد
ألعزيز آل سعود ونسأله ما ألذي انت فاعله يا بطل ألإسلام يا من تحرص دائما
على منع سفك نقطة دمِ واحدة من أي مسلم مهما كان مذهبه وطائفته. وتحرص
دائما على عدم إزهاق روح أي مسلم إلاّ من أمر ربي. تاريخكم يشهد لكم على
عدلكم وديموقراطيتكم
لإن العدل
عندكم هو أساس ألملك. وكل مواطن أو مقيم على أرض الجزيرة العربية يتمتع
بكامل حقوق المواطنة ويحظى برعاية طبية وإجتماعية لا مثيل لها. طبعا هذه
الممارسات التي ذكرتها هي بالأحلام. فعبد الله لا يعرف بالظبط ما يدور من
إجراءآت تعسفية على أرض مملكته لم يمر مثلها على مدى التاريخ. فالإنسان
المقيم هناك لا يشعر بفرق بينه وبين البهائم. فهو محروم من كل شيء بما فيه
حرية ألتعبير والإفصاح عن رأيه بصراحة وبدون خوف عن أي موقف سياسي لا
يتماشى مع سياسة آل سعود. فجأة اصبحت السعودية واحة للديموقراطية واراد
ملكها نقل النموذج ألسعودي ألتعسفي الى باقي الدول ألعربية بما في ذلك
سوريا طبعا. يريد أن يوهمنا هذا الخرف بأن ما يفعله هو خدمة للشعب السوري
كي يحرره من قبضة النظام العلوي والذي كفرّه هو وعلماؤه. إكتملت
ألإستعدادات للمرحلة الثانية من ألحرب الممنهجة والمخطط لها جيدا من أمريكا
وحلفائها. تدريبات ألأسد ألمتأهب في ألأردن والتي شاركت بها أكثر من تسعة
عشرة دولة بما فيها دولة آل سعود طبعا. ونشر صواريخ الباتريوت في كل من
تركيا وألأردن قد اكتمل
وإسرائيل
انهت أجراء مناوراتها الداخلية. ماذا بقي إذن؟ أن يعطي عبد الله شارة بدء
ألحرب لتندلع على كل الجبهات ويكون له شرف المساهمة في تدمير بلد عربي آخر
يضاف الى قائمة ألدول ألتي ساهمت بلاده في تدميرها. ألتردد الحاصل حاليا
لبدء هذه الحرب له ما يبرره. فلا أحد يعرف إذا ما ابتدأت كيف ستنتهي. ولا
أحد يعرف حجم ألخسائر ألبشرية وألمادية التي قد تتسبب بها هذه الحرب. ولا
أحد يعرف الى أين ستمتد نيران هذه الحرب إن ابتدأت
من
ألمؤكد أن كل هذه الأفكار وغيرها تتبادر إلى أذهان مروجي هذه ألحرب
باستثناء قادة دول الخليج والذين لا يعنيهم لا من قريب ولا من بعيد حجم
ألخسائر ألتي ستتسبب بها هذه ألحرب. فهم يملكون المال والذي يوفر لهم
الحماية ويمنع عنهم الشر والضرر. هم واهمون بأن المال سيمنحهم الحماية
ويبعد عنهم الجماهير الغاضبة التي ضاقت ذرعا بممارساتهم التعسفية
والإستبدادية والسلطوية. ألحرب ان اندلعت فستطول، ولن يكون هناك رابح أو
خاسر. فمؤيدي النظام السوري لن يسمحوا بسقوطه بينما معارضيه لا يهمهم هذا
الموضوع فهدفهم هو تدمير سوريا بمنجزاتها وحضارتها وقوتها خدمة للعدو
ألإسرائيلي وألذي يريد جاراً له منزوع ألأظافر ومنزوع ألسلاح لا يسبب له
الإزعاج ويحافظ على أمن كيانه من عبث ألعابثين وتهديداتهم، تماما كما تفعل
بقية الدول العربية المحيطة بالكيان الإسرائيلي مثل ألأردن ومصر ولبنان
ألرسمي
لننتظر لنرَ ما ألذي دفع
ألعاهل ألسعودي إلى قطع إجازته والعودة بسرعة الى بلاده. وإن غدا لناظره
قريب. ويبدو اننا لن ننتظر طويلا فها هو عميلً آخر وضيع قد أنضم الى جوقة
العملاء ضد العروبة والإسلام هو رئيس مصر المنتخب والذي أعلن الليلة
الفائتة قطع علاقاته مع سوريا وقرر طرد السفير السوري من مصر مع أنه وعد هو
وحزب الإخوان بطرد السفير ألإسرائيلي إذا إستلم ألحكم، ولكن يبدو أن
ألأمور قد تداخلت على بعض ولم يعد يميز بين إسرائيل وسوريا. وطالب أيضا
بتطبيق منطقة ألحظر ألجوي على شمال سوريا. فلماذا هذا التسارع الغريب
لتصعيد التوتر في سوريا علما بانه كان هناك إستعدادات تجري لعقد مؤتمر جنيف
2 لحل المشكلة في سوريا بشكل سلمي. كل هذه الدول لا تريد حلاّ سلميا
للمشكلة ألسورية، تريثد فقط شحن ألأجواء وصب المزيد من البنزين عل نارها
لتزداد لهيبا وانتشارا.
لى بيهدموه يرجعوا تاني يفحتوه، و إلي يسفلتوه يرجعوا تانى يهدوه، مرة عشان الكهربا ومرة مواسير المية، مرة سلك التليفون، ومرة المجاري . ياما جاري في الدنيا ياما جاري . طب ما كانوا فحتوا مرة واحدة إلي بيقولوا في لجنة تخطيط يمكن الواحد غلطان ولجنة التخطيط هي إلي صح آه، مادام بيجتمعوا كتير ويخططوا كتير يبقى لازم يفحتوا كتير. من فيلم ثرثرة فوق النيل -
Twitter was notably missing from a leaked list of Internet giants reported to be cooperating with The National Security Agency and the FBI on the surveillance program dubbed PRISM.
Those agencies are siphoning data from the servers of nine U.S. Internet companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple, according to news reports about the documents. The cloud storage device Dropbox was described as "coming soon," along with other unidentified firms.
Google and Apple have both denied any knowledge of PRISM. Apple stated "any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order." Google said "we disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully.
There may be two explanations for Twitter's absence.
Twitter has a history of noncompliance and fighting information requests against its users. That may, in part, explain its absence from the list of companies disclosed Thursday. The leaks were reported by The Washington Post and The Guardian.
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The microblogging service notably defended Malcolm Harris last year. He was being prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on allegations of disorderly conduct related to an Occupy Wall Street protest on the Brooklyn Bridge.
In that instance, Twitter filed a motion in state court in New York in an effort to quash a court order asking it to turn over his communications on Twitter.
"As we've said many times before, Twitter users own their Tweets. They have a right to fight invalid government requests, and we stand with them in that fight. We appealed the Harris decision because it didn't strike the right balance between the rights of users and the interests of law enforcement," said Twitter spokesman Jim Prosser.
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Twitter is also currently embroiled in another legal skirmish to uphold the rights of user privacy. It's fighting a battle in France to not turn over information about users connected to complaints from a private French Jewish students group regarding anti-Semitic content.
Twitter's Prosser points out that the company tries to be transparent with its semi-annual Transparency Report on government requests.
Another explanation for Twitter's absense is that the bulk of its data — aside from direct messages — is publicly available in the form of tweets. That separates it from the likes of Yahoo and Google, which house years of personal emails and data on people.
A young couple, who are anti-government protesters, kiss inside a
damaged public bus, used as a barricade at Taksim Square in Istanbul.
REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
Muhammad Haza’a is one of some 180 people facing death in Yemeni
prisons for crimes they allegedly committed when they were under 18.
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He is due to be taken out of his crowded prison cell tomorrow morning and shot.
Those who supported our call last week to save him from execution
appear to have bought him a precious extra week of life, but would have
hoped that his case be reopened and dealt with justly, according to the
law, not that he would be subjected to a cold-blooded killing.
We were shocked when we first received the phone call that Muhammad Haza’a was going to be executed within 24 hours.
Capital punishment is unfortunately common enough in Yemen, but the
authorities would normally at least grant the prisoner a couple of days
between formally telling them and ending their life.
Equally shocking was the fact that Muhammad had “proof” that he was under 18 at the time of his alleged crime.
We only had a few hours to do something. We had lists of alleged
juvenile offenders on death row in Yemen, but Muhammad’s name was not on
them. We knew nothing about him or his case. Yet we trusted our source
and knew that the information he had provided us was highly likely to be
correct.
Our source had himself been about to be executed a few years ago as a
juvenile offender, when Amnesty International, with the help of other
organizations, intervened; he felt that Amnesty International saved his
life and regularly supports our work.
After we received the call, we urgently sent emails, made calls and
issued appeals. At first we only received automated messages by email
and were confronted with piped musical recordings by phone.
But one breakthrough here and another there soon created momentum.
International and local organizations jumped in and phone calls to the
Yemeni President and the General Prosecutor’s office brought the promise
that the execution would be postponed and the case reviewed.
That was on Tuesday, 26 February. Less than a week later, the following Monday, two parallel events occurred.
In the city of Tai’zz, where Muhammad has been held, the head of the
Appeal Court there filled in a form no longer than four lines and sent
it to the prison authorities. It probably took him or his assistant less
than a minute to fill in the blanks. The execution date is set for
Saturday, 9 March 2013, it read. He added a line underneath: “We advise
that security measures are taken on the above mentioned date of the
execution.”
That last line was added in anticipation of protests. There were
rumours that other death row inmates were planning to prevent the prison
authorities from taking Muhammad to his execution.
Rumours were also emerging that a demonstration in front of the prison was being planned.
Local and international activists were making calls and noise about
the unfairness and illegality of the sentence besides the inhumane
nature of the execution itself. The head of the court apparently
considered that all these calls warranted by way of response was a
single sentence of warning at the bottom of an execution order.
In the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, meanwhile, the General Prosecutor
signed a form ordering the prosecution in Ta’izz to refer Muhammad’s
case to the relevant courts for review on the basis that there remained a
dispute about his age at the time of the alleged offence.
Muhammad’s lawyer decided to personally take the form signed by the
General Prosecutor to the relevant authorities in Ta’izz because he knew
that if the document was faxed or sent by post, it would probably
either arrive too late or mysteriously disappear.
It took him around four hours to drive the 260km south from Sana’a to
Ta’izz. The lawyer was met, but the form was not accepted. Apparently
the Ta’izz authorities were too unhappy with the attention Muhammad’s
case had brought and so have simply refused to follow the laws of their
own country and forward a case to the relevant courts when being ordered
to do so by their superior.
It would surely be unconscionable for an execution to go ahead
essentially because some officials had felt emboldened to flout
instructions, but that seems to be the situation as things stand.
We continue to call on the Yemeni President, the General Prosecutor
and the relevant authorities in Ta’izz to immediately suspend the
execution of Muhammad Haza’a and to order a retrial that is fair and
does not resort to the death penalty.
Violence against women in Egypt gained national and international
attention following a series of well-publicized sexual assaults on women
in the vicinity of Tahrir Square earlier this year during protests
commemorating the second anniversary of the “25 January Revolution”.
Unfortunately, these instances of violence against women were neither isolated nor unique.
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Whether in the public or private spheres, at the hands of state or
non-state actors, violence against women in Egypt continues to go mostly
unpunished.
Most cases go unreported for a plethora of reasons that stem from
discriminatory gender stereotypes, the lack of women’s awareness of
their rights, social and family pressures to remain silent,
discriminatory legislation and women’s economic dependence. Even when
women do surmount these obstacles and turn to state institutions for
protection, justice and reparation, they are often confronted with
dismissive or abusive officials who fail to refer cases to prosecution
or trial, and lengthy and expensive court proceedings if they want to
get divorced. Women who do manage to obtain a divorce then face the
likelihood that court orders for child support or spousal maintenance
will not be enforced.
In recent weeks during an Amnesty International mission to Egypt, I
met several women and girls who were assaulted by their husbands and
other relatives. Many suffer in silence for years while they are
subjected to beatings, severe physical and verbal abuse and rape.
Om Ahmed (mother of Ahmed) told me that her husband began drinking
and beating her after three years of marriage. She recounted daily
abuse, punctuated with particularly vicious attacks. In one instance,
her ex-husband smashed a full glass bottle on her face, leaving her
without her front teeth. She stayed with him for another 17 years,
partially, she explained, because she had nowhere else to go, and
partially because she did not want to bring “shame” on her family. She
never considered approaching the police, shrugging:
“The police don’t care, they don’t think it is a problem if a husband
beats his wife. If you are a poor woman, they treat you like you don’t
even exist and send you back home to him after hurling a few insults.”
Eventually, Om Ahmed’s husband kicked her out of their home, and for
the next year she lived with her three children in an unfinished
building in an informal settlement without running water and
electricity. After two years in family court, she was awarded a meagre
150 Egyptian pounds (approx. US$21) per month for her daughter’s child
support (her other two children don’t qualify for it as they over 18).
Her own spousal maintenance decision is still pending.
Unlike Egyptian Muslim men who can divorce their wives unilaterally –
and without giving any reason – women who wish to divorce their abusive
husbands have to go to court and prove “fault” or that their marriage
caused them “harm”. To prove physical harm, they have to present
evidence, such as medical reports or eyewitness testimony, in
proceedings that are drawn out and expensive. Many women’s rights
lawyers and lawyers working in family court cases told me that this is a
very difficult task for many women because they don’t always report the
abuse to the police, and neighbours, who are usually the only witnesses
other than household members, are reluctant to get involved.
I met one woman who had a particularly striking case. She told me:
“We [my ex-husband and I] only lived together for a few months, but
it took me six years to get a divorce, and I am still in court to get my
full [financial] rights back. Problems started soon after we got
married, and he would beat me. His mother and sisters were also abusive…
After a particularly bad beating, I went to the police station to lodge
a complaint, but I withdrew it under pressure [from my husband who
threatened me]. The case took so long because he had good lawyers who
knew all the loopholes in the law.”
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In 2000, a second option for women seeking divorce was introduced,
whereby women can obtain khul’ (no-fault divorce) from the courts
without having to prove harm, but only if they forego their right to
spousal maintenance and other financial rights. These court proceedings
can still take up to a year and put women who are financially dependent
on their husbands at a severe disadvantage. Despite this, several
divorcees told Amnesty International that they opted for khul’ after
waiting for a court fault-based divorce for years.
Twenty-four-year-old Om Mohamed (mother of Mohamed) told Amnesty International:
“We have been separated for over four years, but I am still neither
married nor divorced… I was trying to prove all this time in court that
he didn’t spend any money on me or our son, and that [my husband] used
to beat me with whatever he could find under his hands, including belts
and wires. Every time I go to court, the hearing is postponed, and I
need this or that paper. I spent a lot of money on lawyers, and got
nowhere… Eventually, I gave up and in January [2013] I raised a khul’
case.”
During my visit to Egypt in May and June this year, I also met women
and girls who suffered violence and sexual abuse at the hands of other
relatives. A 17-year-old girl told me that she ran away from home after a
particularly brutal beating by her brother, who stabbed her in the nose
with a kitchen knife, and burned her with a hot iron. Her scars
corroborated her story. She was too scared to report the incident at the
hospital where she sought treatment, as her brother had accompanied her
and threatened to kill her if she spoke out. She spent months wandering
the streets before being admitted into a private shelter for children.
Another woman who fled home after her brother sexually assaulted her
found temporary protection in a shelter run by an association under the
Ministry of Insurances and Social Affairs. She fled from the shelter
after the administration insisted that she give them her brother’s
contact details, to try to set up a “reconciliation meeting”.
There are only nine official shelters across Egypt, which are
severely under-resourced and in need of capacity-building and training.
Most survivors of domestic violence don’t even know they exist. The idea
of shelters is not widely accepted, because of the stigma attached for
women living outside their family or marital homes.
A staff member at a shelter recounted to me how, after an
awareness-raising session in a village in Upper Egypt, a village leader
got up and – in front of all those gathered – threatened to “stab to
death” any woman who dared to leave an abusive household and run to a
shelter. In another instance, the husband of a woman living in a shelter
threatened to set it on fire.
In May, the authorities announced the establishment of a special
female police unit to combat sexual violence and harassment. While this
may be a welcome step, the Egyptian authorities need to do much more to
prevent and punish gender-based violence and harassment, starting by
unequivocally condemning it. They also need to amend legislation to
ensure that survivors receive effective remedies. They must also show
political will and tackle the culture of denial, inaction and, in some
cases complicity, of law enforcement officials who not only fail to
protect women from violence but also to investigate properly all
allegations and bring perpetrators to trial.
Egyptian women were at the forefront of the popular protests that
brought down Hosni Mubarak’s presidency some two and a half years ago.
Today, they continue to challenge the prevailing social attitudes and
gender biases that facilitate violence against women, in all its forms,
to continue with impunity – while they continue their fight against
marginalization and exclusion from the political processes shaping the
country’s future.
Meanwhile, with the help of human and women’s rights organizations,
seven women who were sexually assaulted around Tahrir Square lodged a
complaint with the prosecution in March 2013 calling for accountability
and redress. Investigations were started, but have since stalled.
One of the lawyers for the women was told by a prosecutor that the
case was not that “important” compared to other cases on his desk. But
the plaintiffs are not giving up. As one of them told Amnesty
International: “Even as I was being abused, I felt that I will not stay
quiet, I will not back down. They have to be punished.”
By Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Egypt researcher
نحن أمة متدينة .. ولكننا نحتل المركز الأول على العالم في البحث عن كلمة SEX في جوجل
نحن أمة متدينة .. ولكن نسبة التحرش الجنسي لدينا هي الأعلى على مستوى العالم
نحن أمة متدينة .. ولكننا نُكفِّر كل من يخالفنا الرأي متناسين حرمة التكفير في ديننا ... نحن أمة متدينة .. ولكننا عندما نشتم بعضنا البعض نسب الرب ولا ننسى المحصنات
نحن أمة متدينة .. ولكننا لا نعتبر المرأة إلا أداة للمتعة والانجاب
نحن أمة متدينة .. ننظر للغرب على أنهم كفار ولكن في نفس الوقت نتسابق على أبواب السفارات للهجرة
نحن أمة متدينة.. ولكننا ننظر لأي امرأة تتزوج من شاب أصغر على أنها لعوب واستغلالية .
نحن أمة متدينة.. ولكننا نخشى العباد .. أكثر من خشيتنا لرب العباد !!!!
Afghanistan's iniquities are grotesque. At Kabul University
last week, zealots -- all men -- protested
a law that would abolish child marriage, forced marriage, marital rape, and the
odious practice, called ba'ad, of giving girls away to settle offenses
or debts. Meanwhile, in jails all over the country, 600 women, the highest
number since the fall of the Taliban, await
trial on charges of such moral transgressions as having been raped or
running away from abusive homes.
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It is tempting to wring our hands at such obscene bigotry, to
pity Afghanistan's women and vilify its men. Instead, we must look squarely at
our own complicity in the shameful circumstances of Afghan women, billions of
international aid dollars and 12 years after U.S. warplanes first bombed their
ill-starred land.
I have been traveling to Afghanistan since 2001, mostly to
its hardscrabble hinterland, where the majority of Afghans live. Over the years,
I have cooked rice and traded jewelry with Afghan women, cradled their anemic
children, and fallen asleep under communal blankets in their cramped mud-brick
homes. I have seen firsthand that the aid we give ostensibly to improve their
lives almost never makes it to these women. Today, just as 12 years ago, most
of them still have no clean drinking water, sanitation, or electricity; the
nearest clinic is still often a half day's walk away, and the only readily
available palliative is opium. Afghan mothers still watch their infants die at
the highest
rate in the world, mostly of waterborne diseases such as bacterial and
protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis, and typhoid.
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Instead of fixing women's lives, our humanitarian aid
subsidizes Afghanistan's kleptocrats, erects miniature Versailles in Kabul and
Dubai for the families of the elite, and buys the loyalty of sectarian warlords-turned-politicians,
some of whom are implicated
in sectarian war crimes that include rape. Yet, for the most part, the U.S. taxpayers
look the other way as the country's amoral government steals or hands out as
political kickbacks the money that was meant to help Afghan women -- all in the
name of containing what we consider the greater evil, the Taliban insurgency.
In other words, we have made a trade-off. We have joined a kind of a collective
ba'ad, a political deal for which the Afghan women are the price.
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To be sure, a lot of well-meaning Westerners and courageous Afghans
have worked very hard to improve women's conditions, and there has been some
headway as far as women's rights are concerned. The number of girls signed up
for school rose
from just 5,000 before the U.S.-led invasion to 2.2 million. In Kabul and a
handful of other cities, some women have swapped their polyester burqas for headscarves. Some even have
taken jobs outside their homes. But here, too, progress has been uneven. A
fifth of the girls enrolled in school never attend classes, and most of the
rest drop
out after fourth grade. Few Afghan parents prioritize education for their
daughters because few Afghan women participate in the country's feudal economy,
and because Afghan society, by and large, does not welcome education for girls
or emancipation of women. To get an idea about what the general Afghan public
thinks of emancipation, consider this: the post-2001 neologism "khanum free" -- "free
woman," with the adjective transliterated from the English -- means "a loose
woman," "a prostitute." In villages, women almost never appear barefaced in
front of strangers.
Doffing their burqas is the least of these women's worry.
Their real problem is the intangible and seemingly irremovable shroud of
endless violence. It stunts infrastructure and perpetuates insecurity and fear.
It deprives women of the basic human rights we take for granted: to have enough
food and drinking water that doesn't fester with disease; to see all of their
children live past the age of five. The absence of basic necessities and the
violence that has concussed Afghanistan almost continuously since the beginning
of recorded history are the main reasons the country has the fifth-lowest life
expectancy in the world. The war Westerners often claim to be fighting in the
name of Afghan women instead helps prolong their hardship -- with little or no
compensation. And now, as the deadline for the international troop pullout
approaches, the country is spinning toward a full-blown civil war. A handful of
hardline men shouting slogans at Kabul University fades in comparison.
How to help Afghan women? The road to their wellbeing begins
with food security, health care that works, and a government that protects them
against sectarian violence. Right now, none of these exist. I wish I could offer
an adequate solution to the tragic circumstances of the women of Afghanistan's back-of-beyond.
There does not appear to be one. Hurling yet more aid dollars into a
intemperate funnel that will never reach their villages is not the answer:
there is little reason to believe that we can count that such funding would be
spent on creating enough mobile clinics to pay regular visits to remote
villages; build roads that would allow the women and their families easy access
to market; facilitate sanitation projects that would curb major waterborne
diseases. The impending troop withdrawal means that women's security will
likely go from bad to worse.
Is
it possible to ensure that some of the funding we now hand to Karzai and Co. --
an estimated $15.7 billion in 2010-2011, according to the CIA (and that's not
counting the infamous ghost
money) -- is distributed among the small non-profits that actually are
trying to make life in Afghanistan livable, organizations that create mobile
clinics to pay regular visits to remote villages, build roads that allow
villagers easier access to market, facilitate sanitation projects that curb major
waterborne diseases? This could be a start, but only if these organizations continue
to work in Afghanistan after NATO troops leave. That, too, is in question now: this
week an attack against the International Committee for Red Cross led the
organization to suspend its operations in the country for the first time in
almost 30 years. But wringing our hands at Afghan women's abysmal state and
shaky social status is not a way out. It is a navel-gazing conversation that
avoids looking squarely at our role in perpetuating the very dire condition we
condemn
The Egyptian actress that has had her lips sealed about her country’s
politics is now letting it all hang out in a movement that calls for
ousting President Mohammad Morsi and his party formed by members of the
Muslim Brotherhood.
Ghada Adel has signed a petition for the “Tamarud” campaign passed around to all the citizens wanting him brought down.
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Looks like the leading lady has gained even more supporters for the campaign by Facebooking a pic with
the entire cast of her upcoming television drama "Makan Fi Al Qasr" (A
Place in the Palace).
The troupe are holding posters for the “Tamarud”
in hopes of attracting additional peeps to sign the petition, according
to the Middle East news portal Elaph.
Other celebs that have
signed the petition include Khalid Al Sawi, Khalid Saleh, Khalid Abu Al
Naja, Athar Al Hakim and famous Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Saed.
Will you join the celebs and sign for the “Tamarud”? Please share with us your thoughts on Ghada’s recent political openness.
تعلية سور قصر الاتحادية وزياده الحرس اليومزود حرسك علي جدارك .. لو نفعوك كانو نفعو مبارك #تمرد#مصر
— حملة تمرد(@7amlet_tamarod) June 5, 2013
سر نجاح حملة #تمرد هو أنها لا تطلب من الموقع على الإستمارة أكثر مما يحتمل ... لا يمكننا أن نطلب من شعب فقير منهك أن يترك عمله ويقوم بعصيان
— هبة صالح (@HebaSaaleh) June 5, 2013
Hackers belonging to the nebulous Internet collective Anonymous
launched #OpTurkey this week in a show of solidarity with fierce
anti-government protests that have sent shock waves throughout Turkey.
The cyberattack, which targeted the Turkish government led by Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, brought down websites belonging to
President Abdullah Gul, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the
Istanbul Directorate of Security and the Istanbul Governor’s Office on
Sunday.
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According to the Russian website RT,
the Anonymous attack came after a series of brutal clashes between
police and protesters that arose on Friday after Turkish police
conducted a crackdown on a peaceful environmental demonstration
in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. The ensuing conflict, during which police
fired tear gas at protestors, some of whom fought back by throwing
rocks, seemed to take on broader political significance
.
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We are coming Turkey. Be strong, We will not let you down. Stay in the streets, We will take your government offline. #OpTurkey
— Anonymous(@AnonOpsMob) June 2, 2013
“It’s the first time in Turkey’s democratic history that an
unplanned, peaceful protest movement succeeded in changing the
government’s approach and policy,” Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Turkish
research group the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies, told
the New York Times.
“It gave for the first time a strong sense of empowerment to ordinary
citizens to demonstrate and further their belief that if they act like
they did the last few days they can influence events in Turkey.”
The government’s reaction drew the ire of Anonymous, who slammed the
Turkish government for acting like “petty dictators.” In a message
posted on YouTube on Sunday, Anonymous announced the launch of Operation
Turkey, saying, “We have watched for days with horror as our brothers
and sisters in Turkey who are peacefully rising up against their
tyrannical government [have been] brutalized, beaten, run over by riot
vehicles, shot with water cannons and gassed in the streets."
“Turkey is supposed to be a so-called modern democracy, but the
Turkish government behaves like the petty dictators in China or Iran,”
the missive’s computer generated voice continued. “Anonymous is outraged
by this behavior and we will unite across the globe and bring the
Turkish government to its knees."
The collective stated that it planned to “attack every Internet and
communications asset of the Turkish government.” In tweets, the group
encouraged protesters to “be strong,” promising to lend their support.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the continuing anti-government protests do not constitute a Turkish Spring.
At a news conference before a trip to Morocco, he said the
protests were organised by extremists and accused the opposition of
provoking "his citizens".
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For a fourth night, there have been confrontations between police and protesters with tear gas being used
.
A protester has died after being hit by a taxi on Sunday, doctors say - the first fatality since the unrest began.
The demonstrator, 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalitas, was hit when
the car ignored warnings to stop and ploughed into a crowd of protestors
in the Mayis district of Istanbul, said the Turkish Doctors' Union.
On Monday evening, thousands of demonstrators again gathered in Taksim Square, the focus of the recent protests.
A helicopter, its searchlight shining onto the crowd, hovered
overhead and tear gas wafted into the square, reports the BBC's Paul
Mason in Taksim Square.
Many protesters shouted "Tayyip, resign!" while waving red
flags and banners and blowing whistles, according to the AFP news
agency.
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Police also fired tear gas again to disperse protesters near Mr Erdogan's office in the Besiktas district of Istanbul.
Earlier on Monday, protesters clashed with police in the
capital, Ankara. Tear gas and water cannon were fired at hundreds of
demonstrators in the city as around 1,000 protesters converged on
central Kizilay Square.
In another development, a public sector trade union
confederation, Kesk, says it will begin a two-day strike starting on
Tuesday in support.
The left-wing confederation accused the government of being anti-democratic and carrying out "state terror".
