Encouraging Ingenuity in the Middle East

I really loved hearing about this show. This is what the youth of the Middle East need--a spotlight on positive, creative endeavors that will promote progress and opportunity. Boredom and lack of intellectual stimulation have long been identified as some of the key triggers for extremism. I am also delighted to see young women included in this competition! All around, I'm glad this show is on the air and meeting with success. :)

Israel still won't allow relief into Gaza

Middle East Spared the worst of the global recession

"Iran's Michelle Obama"

"Obama and Israeli PM have different views"

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer Amy Teibel, AP

WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads into his first visit with President Barack Obama worried by U.S. overtures to Iran and Syria and under pressure to support a Palestinian state.

The two leaders, set to meet Monday at the White House, bring diverging policies on how to approach all these issues. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs downplayed suggestions that the meeting might be "contentious," but acknowledged that "the solutions aren't going to be easy."

"I think this is the beginning of a long effort," Gibbs said Friday.

The Obama administration is trying to promote dialogue with Iran and Syria, Israel's arch foes. Israel fears such efforts could lead to greater tolerance for Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But Israel and the U.S. dismiss Iran's claims that its nuclear program is designed to produce energy rather than weapons. Netanyahu regards Tehran as the greatest threat to Israel — a fear magnified by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated references to Israel's annihilation.

In the run-up to the Feb. 10 election, Netanyahu derided the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which stalled late last year, as a waste of time. He has made clear in the past that he does not think the Palestinians are ready to rule themselves.

But that position has put him at odds with U.S. policy that supports Palestinian statehood as the cornerstone of broader Mideast peace efforts. Now, he's feeling the pressure from Washington to endorse Palestinian statehood, and there were some hints that he might be shifting his position.

On the eve of Netanyahu's meeting with Obama, there were conflicting signals on the Israeli leader's position.

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, said Sunday in Jordan that Netanyahu would abide by agreements signed by his predecessors, including the U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan calling for a two-state solution to the conflict with Palestinians. Peres said progress depended on an end to attacks by Hamas militants and greater Palestinian efforts to ensure Israel's security.

Just before Netanyahu set off for Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he thought peace with the Palestinians could be achieved within three years.

"I think and believe that Netanyahu will tell Obama this government is prepared to go for a political process that will result in two peoples living side by side in peace and mutual respect," Barak told Channel 2 TV on Saturday.

However, on Sunday, Israel's national security adviser, Uzi Arad, left a different impression, saying "there might be even some differences in approach" with Obama.

"There are many hurdles" on the road to living side by side in peace with the Palestinians, Arad said, citing the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Islamic Hamas militants in June 2007. "That is the presence of a huge terrorist infrastructure that was put in place, established precisely at the time when Israel evacuated Gaza and allowed the Palestinians to rule themselves."

Senior White House officials said Obama's meeting with Netanyahu is part of his commitment to pursue a comprehensive peace that includes a two-state solution.

Netanyahu has tried to persuade the Americans that Iran, with its nuclear ambitions and anti-Israel proxies in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, must be reined in before peacemaking with the Palestinians can progress. But the Americans have not been persuaded and want to see serious progress on peacemaking so moderate Arab states won't have a reason to shun an international alliance meant to curb Iran.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding Syria in recent weeks.

An Obama envoy was in Syria to try to repair strained relations and assured the government the U.S. is committed to pursuing a comprehensive Mideast peace. His Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, plans a trip to Syria.

Peres on Sunday urged Syria to open direct peace talks and said some had suggested Syrian President Bashar Assad and Netanyahu meet.

"The Syrians should be ready to talk. If President Assad wants peace, why is he shy?" Peres said after participating in an international economic meeting.

Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, also scheduled meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and congressional leaders.

The Poorest Of the Poor

It's a horrible picture, but if you pay attention, you can tell that this area should be a beautiful, lush place...hints of green are all that's left.



These babies are so brave...The story of Africa is heartbreaking, and this is some of the worst.



Few nations have had a longer history of abject poverty than Haiti...I have a friend working there right now, and the stories she tells would blow your mind. Yes, some people do eat mud.

I hope these made you miserable to watch...if you want to do something, check out:

http://www.pcrf.net/first.html
www.worldvision.org
http://www.saveafricaschildren.org/
www.invisiblechildren.com
www.haitichildren.com
www.fotcoh.org

Saudi Judge: It's OK to slap your wife

As someone who has lived in Saudi and who has witnessed the condition of many women therein, this doesn't surprise me--hence I'm not about to fly off the handle and rant about the conservative patriarchy. Been there, done that. Really, it's kind of a given when you're talking about the Kingdom.

This is only 'news' in that these ideas are being articulated and publicized more than in the past.

Let me balance with this: "progressive" movements are taking hold and making headway in recent years. (i.e, did you catch the part that this was at a seminar on domestic violence?? That is unique). King Abdullah--the 'cautious reformer'--is an asset to the forward-thinking crowd in the Kingdom. It will take time, but it's not hopeless. There are and always have been exceptions to the unfortunate norm.

PS. I must throw this in, though--any man who would deny his wife a decent abaya should be slapped himself.

There is Something About Peres That Makes Me Uneasy...

....Without going in to my personal opinion of Israel's foreign policy, let me just say...This guy strikes me as someone who is going to do whatever he sets his mind to do...The smile at the very end is what unnerved me most.

Things could get ugly.

Exclusive (and unsettling) Interview with Taliban Spokesman (click for full article)

Excerpted from a piece by Nic Robertson, CNN.

.........When we first arrive the man minding the room has a pistol by his side. We follow his lead and sit backs to the wall propped up on the cushions and wait.

I'm expecting to hear a convoy of cars pulling up, but nothing, silence. Then a whisper: He is coming.

There is no time to wonder what's going to happen. He steps in alone, no sound of a car.

He is nervous and seems in a hurry, telling me I only have 15 minutes. It could take me that long to ask just half my questions, never mind his answers.

He tells me the policy is clear. "We ask from the beginning and we say once again one to enforce the Sharia law and Islamic government in Afghanistan, and to remove foreign forces remove from our country."

He tells me presidential elections expected this year are a sham, that the Taliban are telling Afghans to stay away and he warns:

"We will target the Afghan parliamentary members and government officials so if there is elections, yes it is clear we will target them."

He says they'll use suicide bombers in their attacks. I want to know how they justify tactics that kill so many civilians. I find his answer falls far short of even trying to explain let alone apologize for the carnage they cause. He says it is justified in Islam, it has its roots in history and Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

That's not what most Muslims I talk to say; they abhor such nihilistic thinking.

He tells me it doesn't matter how many come, they won't win. "If the Pentagon is thinking of changing its policy, we too are thinking of changing the policy. If they want to send 20,000 to start a new campaign, this is a war and we will see the war and make our policy."

At one point he laughs when I say he is up against the strongest army in the world.

His point is Taliban fighters are not afraid of dying.

"If they want to send the troops and change things ... we believe they can't do anything.

"Afghanistan will be the Vietnam for them...I want to tell you clearly we will win, and they will die."

This is unnerving, to say the least. Afghanistan may indeed become a Vietnam--or at the very least, "Obama's Iraq" as it's been called already. Our attention to Afghanistan has been too half-hearted and incomplete in the past few years, with the distractions of Iraq dilluting our strength there. We have a lot to make up for, and it makes me uneasy. The story of Afghanistan, as I've said before, is heartbreaking...I hope the nation won't face as much heartbreak in the future as I fear it may...

UN Warns of Crisis in Palestine (CNN) (click for link)

(CNN) -- Thousands of Palestinians are facing a housing crisis because of inadequate urban planning by Israeli officials who run the east Jerusalem region, a U.N. report shows.

Twenty-eight percent of Palestinian homes in the area have been built without permits, which makes them targets for demolition by Israeli authorities, according to the study by the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The report, which highlights a growing international concern, said that more than a quarter of the 225,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem risk losing their homes.

A majority of the residents built their homes after being denied permits, the U.N. said, adding that only 13 percent of annexed East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian construction.

The municipality of Jerusalem disputed the numbers in a news statement but acknowledged that there is a planning crisis all over the city.

It "is not just in eastern Jerusalem but throughout all of Jerusalem that affects Jews, Christians and Muslims alike," the statement said. "This is a report about the past, while Mayor Nir Barkat is committed to the future and providing a better quality of life for all residents of Jerusalem."

East Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan until 1967 when it was annexed by Israel, which then claimed sovereignty over the city. This annexation is not recognized by the international community.

Recent incidents indicate that the Jerusalem municipality will retain and possibly intensify its pace and policy on demolitions, which are conducted by the Israel Defense Forces, the study states.

But Jerusalem officials said that plans are under way to implement change.

"Upon entering office, Mayor Barkat expedited the planning process and for the first time in 50 years, will present a master plan for the city in the coming weeks for public review," the statement said.

The U.N. urged Israeli authorities to halt demolitions and ensure effective urban planning as part of its obligations as the occupying power.

It also called on Israel to support organizations that work to improve the lives of displaced families.

Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza launched strikes overnight, but no casualties were reported.

The Israel Defense Forces and Hamas security reported two Israeli airstrikes targeting weapons smuggling tunnels in Rafah, the town in Gaza near Egypt. And, Palestinian militants in Gaza shot a Qassam rocket into Israel that landed in an open space, the IDF said.

The Qassam was launched Thursday night, the IDF said. The Israeli airstrikes occurred on Friday morning.

A "Burkini"?

I love to hear of cultural compromise and ethnic integration. Thus, I do not see this as a new form of isloation and subjugation of Muslim women, but rather an interesting and, most likely, positive instance of social adjustment. :)

Italy: Muslim women allowed to swim in private


Bergamo, 30 April (AKI) - Muslim women in the northern Italian province of Bergamo now have private access to a local swimming pool where they can swim freely without traditional clothing. Men are not permitted to swim at the Siloe pool when the women remove their veils, or burquas, at designated times each week, according to the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.

Maida Ziaradi, an Iranian who has lived in Italy for 17 years spearheaded the move and said many Muslim women from Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Egypt as well as Italians can take advantage of it.

The pool is owned by the diocese of Bergamo and the arrangement with the Muslim women is seen as a form of ecumenical respect for the Koran.

"At the beginning several (women) were hesitant and fearful," Ziaradi said.

"One had never swum before, others made a remarkable effort exposing their legs, one was terrified of the water and now doesn't miss a lesson."

Italy is not the first country to introduce designated swimming for Muslim women. In Germany the burqua can be worn in some public swimming pools, while in Australia some public pools have specific timetables for Muslim women.

Mecca Laalaa, a 22 year-old Australian is the first Muslim woman to become a volunteer surf life saver, wearing a specially designed costume or 'burkini'.

The burkini that completely covers the body and head, leaving the face exposed.

I challenge you all to read this.

The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
a.k.a. Samuel Clemens
(1835-1910)


It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came-next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams-visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!-then home from the war, bronzed heros, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation -- "God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever--merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory -

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there, waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,"Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

"I come from the Throne-bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import-that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think.
"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this-keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.
"You have heard your servant's prayer-the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it-that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory-must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle-be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause)

"Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.