While vacationing in Paris, I happened upon a solidarity rally for Iran’s Reform movement. Hundreds of people gathered to release green balloons into the sky. Green has become the symbolic color for revolution in Iran. Together they stood, and chanted “Free Iran” while holding a serene candle lit vigil.
It is inspiring to know that people aren’t sitting idly by. Instead they are coming together for something they believe in. They are organizing themselves and showing Iranians that they are not alone, people around the world care, want to make a difference, and want to take action.
In Brooklyn, a dentist was arrested for aiding terrorist group, Hezbollah. Fifty-six year-old, Saleh Elahwal aided Hezbollah in broadcasting its television station in the metropolitan area to satellite users.
He was sentenced to 17 months in prison.
We need to hear more about these stories, and not only in NJ’s Star-Ledger. We need to support these types of rulings that say we will not stand for terrorist activity in our backyards. We will not stand by when one of our citizens helps proven terrorist organizations in getting their message out. Take action today.
This week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that the burka is not welcome in France. Home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim communities, France is taking a stand against an extremist form of Islam.
“Condemning the head-to-toe cover for women as a symbol of subjugation rather than faith, Sarkozy was emphasizing his divergent views from US President Barack Obama. […] On a visit to Paris earlier this month, Obama urged Western countries to avoid “dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.”
Sarkozy continued to describe how inside a burka, women are cut off from social life and are deprived an identity, as prisoners. He explains that the burka is not a sign of religion and that it is not welcome in France.
For a leader to stand up to this extreme form of Radical Islam is inspirational. We need to support these leaders and commend them. Religious clothing is one thing, as you can see above in the different pictures of a hijab or a burka. Being stripped of an identity by being covered head to toe in the burka can only be categorized as Islamic fundamentalism.
Probably hundreds of articles have been written around the world on the recent demonstrations in Iran.
While I have serious reservations about Mir Hossein Mousavi as a potential leader, and while I am also highly suspect of former Iranian Presidents Rafsanjani and Khatami given some of their statements and actions over the years, nevertheless, it’s incredibly empowering for me to the see the reaction of hundreds of thousands of Iranian citizens publicly demonstrating—for the most part, peacefully—against what they see as injustice in the electoral process. These are men and women who perceive a need, and who are stepping forward to try and actualize a solution.
Although Iran has been the hot topic in the news lately, one of its neighbors, Pakistan has also found itself in the headlines.
Today the LA Times reported that the Peshawar airport in Pakistan is closed because of a terrorist threat against a civilian aircraft.
Last week a Christian man was raped and brutally murdered for refusing to convert to Islam. Only 28 years-old, Tariq “Litto” Mashi Ghauri was a university student in Pakistan was stabbed five times and raped by the brothers of his Muslim girlfriend.
The scary thing is the lip service that officials pay to these horrific scenarios. Fox reported:
The [Pakistani] official said that minorities are very well represented in the Pakistani Parliament, and if someone in fact were murdered for not converting to Islam, “it would have been reported hugely.” […] Yet human rights watchdog groups say that what happened to Litto Ghauri is not uncommon because Christians in Pakistan are looked upon as the dregs of society. Pakistan’s population is 97 percent Muslim, and Christians are only a very small part of the remaining 3 percent.
Around the world, Pakistan is considered one of the most hostile countries in the world for minority religions. In Pakistan, expressing yourself can be punishable by death if you express anything that goes against Islam or the Koran.
Standing by when people are getting murdered just because they don’t believe in Islam can no longer be an option. We need to keep our eyes and ears open to these incidents and raise awareness.
Karim Sadjadpour, expert on Iran, is an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He questions how could they count 40 million votes so quickly? The best quote from this clip is: “They have repression down to a science.”
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declares landslide victory and we are left asking, what’s next?
With 62.63 percent of the vote, much skepticism has been raised surrounding the voting process.
Opponent Moussavi supporters take to the streets, while the rest of the world is still trying to figure out what really happened. Is this democracy? Assuming that the election process was fair, it still feels difficult to absorb the notion that Ahmadinejad could actually win in a democratic vote.
“In the aftermath of the vote, street protesters and riot police engaged in running battles, with stones thrown, garbage cans set on fire and people shouting “death to the dictatorship. […] Moussavi said the results from “untrustworthy monitors” reflects “the weakening of the pillars that constitute the sacred system” of Iran and “the rule of authoritarianism and tyranny.” Independent vote monitors were banned from polling places.”
Maybe it was a big sham after all. With an over 80 percent voter turnout, perhaps the number is just too unbelievable?
But if it all happened in a legitimate manner then maybe we just need to accept the facts: We all seem to be calling this a dictatorship but if fair elections were in fact held, when are we going to accept that this is what the Iranian majority wants.
The Iran elections are coming up on June the 12th. That is just a few days away. These elections could potentially be a very big deal, with an impact that will be felt around the world.
Wikipedia is often a good source for getting a broad picture of an issue. Here is part of Iran Elections on Wikipedia.
Presidential elections will be held in Iran on June 12, 2009. It will be the 10th presidential election to be held in the country. The current incumbent is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is running for re-election. The Iranian reform movement has attempted to unite behind a single candidate. Former President Mohammad Khatami had been the leading opponent to Ahmadinejad until he left the race and endorsed former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Former Speaker of the Majlis Mehdi Karroubi, another Reformist, is also running, as is former Commander of Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mohsen Rezaei, a Conservative.
President Obama’s speech given in Cairo last week addressed a number of very important issues. He discussed radical extremism, the rights and responsibilities of nations when it comes to nuclear weapons, religious freedom and women’s rights; all of which are crucial and critical to today’s global agenda and the foreign policy of the United States. Many of these issues have been overlooked in the past and need attention.
He emphasized that we must look to build a new future and cannot chose to be bound by the past. He encouraged interfaith dialogue as well as billions of dollars in social aid for the betterment of many Muslim countries. He plans to champion the fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear as long as that same principle applies to the Muslim perception of America.
“And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known.”
The President has set a number of very worthy, yet lofty goals for the United States and, as we see from this excerpt, for the Muslim world as well. I am very interested to see how each of these topics will be addressed and the way in which both sides will participate in order to turn the president’s goals into reality.
This was the headline I saw in Google News this morning when I woke up for a drink in the middle of the night.
“AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, June 5 (UPI) — Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-immigrant maverick, apparently led his party to a surprising runnerup slot in the Netherlands’ European elections, officials say.Exit polls in the election to choose a European parliament indicate Wilders’ Freedom Party won 15 percent of the vote and claimed 25 seats Thursday. That would be enough for a second place finish to The Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and a step ahead of the Labor party of Wouter Bos…”
I want to personally congratulate Geer t and I believe that Geert is the only hope for Europe to avert total destruction. With 15% of the seats in the Danish parliament Geert’s party is going to be a major political force but it’s too bad that the press describes him in a negative manner. Geert is already being prosecuted in Holland for inciting hatred What’s the deal with that? When is the last time a radical Imam was prosecuted? When is the last time that Geert or his followers rioted? There is a major double standard in the world.
Geert has taken a major stand on the issue that we need to recognize as the one that will determine the fate of our children. Do we want to live in a world dominated by Sharia? I know that I don’t want to live in a world whose values are totally wrong in my eyes. I don’t believe that women should be turned into slaves or that children should be turned into killers.
I may not agree with Geert’s position on a lot of issues. But Geert I congatulate you and take my hat off to you. I wish you success and hope that we succeed in pushing back Sharia.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declares landslide victory and we are left asking, what’s next?
