human rights

A leader of a top secular party in Egypt said the 9/11 attacks were “made in the USA,” and the Holocaust is “a lie.” He also called Anne Frank’s diary “a fake.” 

Ahmed Ezz El-Arab, vice chairman of Egypt’s Wafd Party said he accepted that Nazis murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews but called the gas chambers “fanciful stories.” 

Wafd is the second most powerful political party in Egypt today, after the Muslim Brotherhood. The party announced it would run together with the Brotherhood in the upcoming September elections to present a united front in Egypt’s new government. 

"In order to meet Iraq's Christians this year, Santa Claus will have to steer his sleigh to Jordan, Syria, Kurdistan or Europe. After Al-Qaida's October 31 massacre at a central Baghdad church, thousands of Christians have decided that their homeland is no longer safe."

Click here for the full article on Christian persecution in Iraq.

There is a critical vote taking place at the United Nations TODAY
regarding Iran’s human rights record. It is crucial that we sign Iran180′s petition and
support this resolution which condemns Iran’s human rights violations
and demands that international human rights inspectors be allowed in
Iran.

Click here for more information on Iran's human rights abuses, and here to sign the petition.

Over the past week, we have heard about two extremely tragic incidents from Yemen regarding child brides. Last week a 13-year-old bride bled to death after she was married. Her husband forced her to have sex and eventually raped her to death. A few days ago, a second story surfaced of an 11-year-old girl who was hospitalized with genital injuries. In this case her husband said that he would wait until she reached puberty to consummate the marriage, but unsurprisingly he did not. In February of 2009 a law was introduced in Yemen stating that girls could not marry until the age of 17, but the law was repealed because some lawmakers viewed it as “un-Islamic.” This statement reinforces the notion of child brides is in fact supported by Islam. We often hear about these stories from human rights organizations, such as UNICEF and Oxfam, but they claim to treat these situations carefully for fear of an explosive political issue. However, we must ask: if this issue is not worth fighting against what is? Read more about these stories here and here and then make a difference. Send 5 “Did You Know” statements to your family and friends and help raise awareness about the reality of child brides. Use the space below to have a discussion and brainstorm about how we as individuals can help put an end to this horrific reality.