Wordpress Blogs on Refugees
Syria Update, May 14, 2013 (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies, [IMEISS] by Sherifa Zuhu).
Syria Update May 14, 2013. (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies. By Sherifa Zuhur)
Death toll:
The SOHR, based on newly-received reports of previously undocumented deaths now estimates the documented casualties since the beginning of the Syrian uprising as being more than 94,000. It estimates the actual # of violent deaths at more than 120,000.
A new Syrian opposition group, the Union of Syrian Democrats has formed, according to media sources, to counter the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the National Council. The leadership includes Michel Kilo, Christian writer and human activist. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/14/New-Syrian-opposition-group-formed.html
This video showing a person called “Abu Sakkar” (identified in Time as Khalid al-Hamad) in Homs from the independent Omar al-Farouq brigade eating the heart and liver of a Syrian soldier has circulated to disgust and criticism. He says “”I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog,”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFZBxT7JHZw
Here HRW comments: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/13/syria-brigade-fighting-homs-implicated-atrocities
The Syrian National Coalition discuss their efforts to impact the rules of war followed by the Syrian opposition and as shown in videos online. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zrqC6OKLEng
The Assad family’s portrait artist tells people to go ahead and destroy his paintings. http://www.latimes.com/news/columnone/la-fg-syria-artist-20130514-dto,0,5930524.htmlstory?fb_action_ids=10200968829763553&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_ref=s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dfacebook-like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200968829763553%22%3A344206152369464%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200968829763553%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%7B%2210200968829763553%22%3A%22s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dfacebook-like%22%7D
A tribute to the women of the Syrian revolution here collected by Mohja Kahf.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150591186772016.374857.667627015&type=1
Refugees and Relief:
The ICG’s report on Syrians in Lebanon. http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/egypt-syria-lebanon/lebanon/141-too-close-for-comfort-syrians-in-lebanon.aspx?utm_source=lebanon-syria-report&utm_medium=1&utm_campaign=mremail
Andrew Harper, the UNHCR’s representative to Jordan tweeted that “Last night another 1,314 #syrian @refugees x’d to the safety of #jordan. This incl. over 700 children who have fled the fighting.”
Here you can see the physical enlargement of the Zaatari camp in Jordan. http://reliefweb.int/map/jordan/evolution-al-zaatari-refugee-camp-mafraq-governorate-jordan-14-may-2013
Clashes broke out today between opposition fighters from the Ghuraba’ al-Sham battalion and those opposition battalions which follow the Shari’a council (al-Hay’a al-Shari`a) These clashes occurred on the airport road, between Tariq al-Bab and Jabal Badro, and in the souq, after the fighters f the Shari’a council arrived to open the road which provides access to the northern countryside. The Ghuraba’ al-Sham had closed the road in retaliation to the Shar’a council battalions closing up their bases. Tensions also arose between the militias after the Shari’a council detained the leader of Ghuraba’ al-Sham.
The Ghuraba’ al-Sham and the al-Hay’a al-Shar’ia fighters kept on clashing as the Hay’a rebels stormed several houses near of the Ghuraba’ battalion leaders’ bases, using mortar and tank shells. One child was injured by the rebel fighting in Tariq al-Bab.
Tank shell shrapnel killed a rebel in Sheikh Maqsoud. Regime forces based in Sleiman al-Halabi fired a tank shell on the Sakhour neighborhood. Several mortar shells fell on the Bab Qinsreen neighborhood, reports of injuries and houses were damaged. Rocket bombardment injured residents of Kafar Kalbein village. The regime forces bombarded the area around the Mengh military airport, which is surrounded by rebels.
Clashes in the Jeb al-Jebli area resulted in opposition fighters taking some buildings from regime forces a defected officer was killed and there were other casualties on both sides. Several regular soldiers were killed when rebels launched mortar rockets on their position by the al-Hatab square in the al-Jdeeda neighborhood. Clashes took place in the town of Aziza.
The regime forces hit the Qaboun and Tadamun neighbourhoods with mortars and multiple rocket launchers, several people were injured
In Wadi Barada, the Free Syrian Army responded to the regime forces attack in the village of Efrah. They destroyed three tanks and a Dushka and the SOHR reported that 300 soldiers were killed or injured (this seems a very high number, worth re-checking for accuracy).
The regime forces shelled the Fakhor area and resumed shelling of the orchards around Zabadani and Harasta. There were heavy clashes near the airforce intelligence branch in the town of al-Sabina. Clashes in al-Maliha resulted in the death of one opposition fighters. The regime forces shelled the city of Zabadani. Military helicopters bombarded Yabrud, and the town of Zabdeen was hit as well. Regime forces bombarded al-Nabk and there were clashes near the al-Nabk bridge. One opposition fighter was killed outside of Daraya. Some areas of the eastern Ghouta were heavily bombarded by the Syrian airforce.
Raef Mofid Al Masri, a child, killed by regime forces’ shelling of Dara`a.
The regime forces carried out artillery shelling at al-Karak al-Sharki resulting in casualties and injuries.
According to Naharnet, Hizbullah fighters have advanced to Dara`a
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/82909
The bodies of 4 men were found killed with their hands bound in the al-Bakar area of Yarmouk valley. The regime forces shelled towns of al-Herak and Da’el.
Deir az-Zur province:
On Monday
Farouq Al-Hama of the FSA was killed during clashes at Deir Ezzor Military Airport
The regime forces shelled the city of Deir az-Zur with artillery and missiles in these areas: al-Urthi, al-Jbeili, Sheikh Yasin, al-Omal and Hawiqeh.
Smoke rising from the State Security building.
The regime forces shelled the city of Mouhassan with artillery fire from Deir Ezzor military airport (also on Monday).
Syrian regime forces attacked al-Furiya village. They burned down houses, causing the residents to flee. Regime forces stormed houses in the Manakh neighbourhood of the city of Hama. Clashes continue in eastern part of Hama province between armed men from the al-Zeghba village and regime forces. The airforce also bombed the area. 1 rebel was killed in clashes yesterday (Monday) in Helfaya. Bombardment was resumed on Helfaya on Tuesday.
Hassake province
Regime forces stationed in the Qamishli airport bombarded several surrounding villages with multiple rocket launchers. Several rockets fell on the village of Khirbet Hatem.
At Bustan al-Qasr a nighttime demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=naqsDGk9Jj8
In the Qusayr area, the regime troops captured three villages.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2013/may/14/syria-middle-east-troops-qusayr-homs
Violent clashes occurred around the Qarmid and Shabiba military camps. The regime forces bombarded the Jabal Arb’een area and the villages of Bzaboor and Ma’arbleet.
Latakia province:
Seven civilians were killed as they ran to Salma seeking safety.
A demonstration in Raqqa this evening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dORbUcF9JCY&feature=youtu.be
In the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State in Iraq and Bilad al-Sham summarily executed three officers of the Syrian army. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=369179069857104&set=a.150495128392167.28686.121855461256134&type=1&theater
Tartous province.
In Tartous, Omar lost count of the bodies after 46.
International:
Russia and the United States plan talks on Syria which have been pushed ahead to June. https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/us-russia-plan-for-syria-talks-slipping-to-june
The Jordanian foreign ministry announced that Jordan will host “Friends of Syria” meetings next week. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/14/Jordan-to-host-Friends-Of-Syria-next-week-ministry-says.html
Britain and France have postponed a Syrian request that the United Nations designate the al-Nusra Front a terrorist group because Britain and France want the group to be listed as an alias of al-Qaeda, diplomats said on Tuesday.
The death toll from twin car bombings in Reyhanli has risen to 51. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the idea of a Syrian-Turish investigation into the bombings. He said: “The administration in power in Damascus is illegal … how can we recognize a structure that isn’t even recognized by its own citizens.” Erdogan will meet U.S President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday.
Among Syria’s Creative Figures:
Muhammad al-Maghut, poet, noted for his free verse (1934 -2006) born in Salamiyya to an Isma’ili family.
Nizar al-Qabbani, 1923-1998, born in Damascus. His sister, ten years his senior, committed suicide rather than marry a man she did not love and the theme of women’s oppression entered his work as a poet, whose work sharply criticized Arab society and politics of his time. He was also a diplomat and a publisher.
Zakariyya Tamir, born in 1931 in Damascus, famed for short stories, for adults and children. He supports the Syrian revolution and hopes that Syria will be liberated from “tyranny and horror.” http://freesyriantranslators.net/2012/07/22/a-dialogue-with-zakaria-tamer-2/
Ali Farzat, born in 1951 in Hama, a cartoonist. He was attacked by thugs who broke his hands. He is on Facebook and his cartoons of “Highlander” comment on Syria.
Duraid Lahham born in 1934 in Damascus. A comedian and director known for his character, “Ghawwar al-Toushe.” He was a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1999 and is considered to be a supporter of Bashar al-Assad and not of the opposition.
Farid al-Atrash, 1910 – 1974 was born in Suwayda to a Druze family associated with the independence struggle against the French. He became a composer, master oudist, singer and film star in Egypt, starring in 31 movies and recording more than 500 songs.
Asmahan. (Amal al-Atrash) 1912 (or 1915) – 1944 was born at sea as her family traveled from Turkey to Beirut. Sister of Farid al-Atrash, she became a renowned singer of Arabic compositions and an actress in Egypt and challenged conservative attitudes about women with her artistic life-style. Her musical talent was considered to rival that of Umm Kulthum and she sang the compositions of al-Qasabji, Riyadh al-Sunbati, her brother, Farid al-Atrash and others.
Sadeq Jalal al-Azm, philosopher and scholar was born in Damascus in 1934 and earned a Ph.D. in 1961 from Yale. His 1969 book, Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini in which he criticized the misuse of religion and caused his imprisonment in Lebanon. He wrote at least six books and many articles since, including a critique of ‘Orientalism.’ http://en.qantara.de/wcsite.php?wc_c=15850
Shadi Jamil, great Syrian singer of the Allepine qudud, born in 1955 in Aleppo.
Hamam Khairi, another singer of the Allepine qudud and muwashshahat, a student of Sabah Fakhri and Shaykh Omar al-Batsh.
Assala Nasri, born in 1969 in Damascus as the daughter of a Syrian composer, Mostafa Nasri. She has produced 23 albums and many singles including “Ah, law ha-l kursi bye7ki” and has a dramatic and powerful singing style. She supports the Syrian revolution.
Sabah Fakhri, born in 1933 in Aleppo is perhaps the greatest traditional-style singer of the Eastern Arab world, of muwashahhat and qudud Halabiyya. He did not follow the typical musical path of pursuing a singing career in Egypt, preferring to remain in Syria.
Mayada al-Hinnawi, born in 1957 in Aleppo. A great singer whose popularity peaked in the 1980s. She sang the compositions of Baligh Hamdi, Riyadg Sunbati, Mohammad Sultan, Hilmy Baker and others.
Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said), a poet, born in 1930 in al-Qassabin, Latakia to a farming family. After being imprisoned for a year, he left Syria in 1956 for Beirut. He has published many collections of poetry in which he experimented with various modernist forms and received numerous awards for his poetry. He lives in Paris. http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9297
Yasin al-Hajj Saleh, born in 1961, an author jailed when he was in his 20’s in 1980 until 1996. He began writing in prison in 1988. He published With Salvation O’Youth: 16 Years in Syrian Prison (al-Saqi, 2012).
http://www.aljadid.com/content/yassin-al-haj-saleh’s-taming-syrian-prison’s-beast
Hanna Mina, novelist, born in 1924 in Iskenderun and raised in Latakia, he would later be an exile in China. He described his education as the “university of dark poverty.” He wrote 40 novels including the autobiographical, The Swamp. http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/5584
Mohammad Malas, filmmaker, born in 1945 in Quneitra and studied cinema in Moscow. He won awards for his many films including Ahlam al-Madina, al-Layl and Bab al-Maqam.
Selwa al-Neimi, poet and author, was born in Damascus and left for Paris in the mid-70s. She has published three volumes of poetry, a collection of short stories and is best known for her erotic novel, The Proof of Honey.
Nihad Sirees, novelist, author of The Silence and the Roar. http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/7006/writing-revolution-and-change-in-syria_an-intervie
Saadallah Wannous, 1941 – 1997, a playwright, born in Hussein al-Bahr near Tartus. His writing career began in the early 1960s. He introduced a “theater of politicization,” helped to found the Arab Festival for Theater Arts and the Higher Institute for Theater Arts (where he taught).
Nabil Maleh, born in Damascus, film director since his first release “The Leopard” 1972, now living in the Gulf. http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9845/a-leopard-in-winter_an-interview-with-syrian-direc
Issa Touma is a photographer, curator and director of Le Pont Organization, who supports the revolution. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/25/38262/Arts–Culture/Visual-Art/Art-sees-light-within-the-Syrian-Revolution.aspx
George Wassouf, born in Kafroun, Tartus in 1961, is a popular singer of Arabic music with more than 30 albums released. He has supported Bashar al-Assad and has been criticized for praising the Syrian army.
Samir Zikra, filmmaker, born in Beirut in 1945 and raised in Aleppo. His films include al-Sakran Yanfi (based on a Naguib Mahfouz novel) al-Matar Saba`in, Lan Nansa, al-Shuhud, `Anha, Hadithat al-Nusf Metr, Waqa`ih al-`Amm al-Muqbel. He coauthored a script for Baqaya Suwar (based on a Hanna Mina novel), coauthored the script for Mohammad Malas’ Ahlam al-Madina, and directed Turab al-Ghuraba (about Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi) in 1998 and `Alaqat `Ammah in 2005.
Some of the Syrian visual artists whose works include protest: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152496317/even-under-threat-syrian-artists-paint-in-protest
On Nakba Anniversary, Refugees Make almost Half of Population
Educating refugee leaders on trauma, PTSD and recovery. Why this approach?
We intend to offer a Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees that will be able to address the challenges noted here. This program, designed for refugees to participate in groups of 15-20, will be conducted with cultural sensitivity and combine psycho-educational curriculum on trauma with a body-centered method of trauma recovery.
Toward that ultimate goal, Phase 2 will be Educating Refugee Leaders about Trauma, PTSD and Recovery.
By assisting refugee leaders in developing a more in-depth understanding of trauma they will be more able to recognize on an individual, family and community level when struggles have their origin in unresolved traumatic experiences and require specific types of intervention.
Refugee leaders also need this information in order to best attend to their own well-being. They too have survived atrocities and despite demonstrating phenomenal resiliency, sometimes these experiences can take a toll in ways hard to recognize. If not outright trauma, survivor’s guilt alone can be incredibly difficult to deal with.
A healthy refugee community requires healthy, well-informed leadership. For our efforts to be successful, we need them to understand and support our approach. That means we want them to have an abbreviated first-hand experience of what participation in our program will be like.
Benefits from this approach- Leaders will gain a deeper understanding of trauma, PTSD, and the recovery process
- They will be more able to recognize symptoms and side effects of unresolved trauma and PTSD (e.g. nightmares, depression, anxiety, moodiness, difficulty concentrating, intrusive memories, body pain, substance abuse, domestic violence etc.)
- Be better advocates and sources of referral for our future Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees
For more information about our efforts, click here.
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Phase 2: Educating refugee leaders about trauma, PTSD and recovery
Phase 2 of Living Ubuntu’s Trauma Recovery Program: Educating refugee leaders about trauma, PTSD and recovery
Last December, we completed Phase 1 of Trauma Recovery for Refugees and the results of our survey to determine rates of PTSD among refugees in San Diego confirmed what we suspected. Many have survived terrifying and horrific situations and are still suffering with the after effects.
- 83% have endured traumatic experiences (e.g. forced evacuation, lack of food, water, shelter, access to medical care, violence, kidnapping, etc.)
- 85% are currently suffering from symptoms of trauma, ranging from mild to severe.
While responses indicated a wide range of difficulties, the top 5 most common symptoms of trauma in this population were:
- Recurrent thoughts or memories of the most hurtful or terrifying events (over 65%).
- Feeling exhausted
- Sudden emotional or physical reaction when reminded of the most hurtful or traumatic events
- Feeling that they have less skills than they had before
- Bodily pain
Click here to see the full report »
Services for refugees remain extremely limited. Given these findings the obvious question is, what can we do to help with this, and how?
Trauma induced behavior cannot be rectified with the use of traditional crisis intervention techniques that depend on logical processing because trauma behavior is an illogical, instinctual response not under the control of the rational brain.
– David Berceli, Ph.D.
♦ Stigma. For many refugees, there is a stigma associated with seeking help. While traumatic experiences may contribute to depression, anxiety and other debilitating symptoms, in traditional African cultures admitting to these difficulties is seen as weakness. Additionally, having felt violated by others in the past, trust, especially of ‘outsiders’, does not come easily.
♦ Cost. Even when someone realizes that they need help, cost is often prohibitive. Very few refugees can afford to pay the hundreds of dollars often associated with individual psychotherapy sessions.
♦ Individual vs. group. For many, it is the entire family that has been traumatized. Family members have shared experiences, feel responsible for one another and want to help each other heal. Culturally, this extends even beyond the family into the community as a whole. The traditional western model of 1-on-1 psychotherapy is not ideal given the cultural context.
♦ Understanding trauma. Often family and community leaders see the symptoms of trauma – substance abuse, violence, insomnia, poor concentration, anxiety, depression etc. – but do not perceive them as being caused by life-threatening traumas in a refugee’s history. In the absence of understanding of what traumatic experiences can lead to, feelings of shame are commonplace, and the stigma about getting help is made worse.
♦ Talk vs. body. Unresolved trauma is not merely a psychological issue. When faced with life-threatening situations, the body’s survival response gets activated. For those with PTSD, much of this activation continues long after the actual event. While it is a necessary part of the healing process to be able to tell the story of ‘what happened’, traditional Western ‘talk therapy’ can be high-risk for someone who is in a state of hyper-arousal. It has the potential to re-traumatize by overwhelming the individual and flooding the nervous system. Part of the challenge is to address the aspect of traumatization that is physiological in order to help restore a state of calm.
After years and years of working in this and grappling with this, the conclusion that many of us are coming to is that in order to help these animal, frozen, inappropriate, fight/flight/freeze responses to come to an end, you need to work with people’s bodily responses. You need to help their body to feel like it’s over.
– Bessel van der Kolk, MD
We intend to offer a Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees that will be able to address the challenges noted above. Before we launch this program for the wider community, we need to ensure that refugee leaders have a good understanding of trauma. Then they will be more able to recognize refugee struggles that are rooted in unresolved traumatic experiences requiring specific types of intervention.
For Phase 2 of this project, we are planning to:
- Create an abbreviated 6-session series (2.5 hours each) for a maximum of 15 leaders from the refugee community in San Diego. These individuals are people we already have a good working relationship with, and are partners and supporters of this project.
- Include psycho-educational material about trauma and PTSD, and utilize Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) in each session.
- Get feedback from the leaders and make as-needed changes to the program prior to launch for the general refugee public.
This will help us move one step closer towards launching a community-based, ongoing Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees. Why are we doing this? Read more »
How can you help?We need to raise $3300 to the cover the costs for this phase of the project. Your contribution of:
- $550 will cover the cost of 1 session for 15 refugee leaders. 1/6 of our goal.
- $220 will cover the cost of training 1 refugee leader.
- $100 will cover a fifth of the cost of creating the trauma curriculum.
- $50 will cover the venue fee for each session.
- $20 will provide 1 yoga mat for 1 refugee leader.
Can you help us with this?
100% of your donation goes towards covering the costs of this program.
- Program costs for Phase 2 (recruitment, staffing, travel etc.) = $2,010
- Yoga mats = $250
- Marketing (flyers, printing) = $90
- Venue fee = $300
- Food & refreshments for 6 sessions = $150
- Create curriculum = $500
- Total = $3,300
- Chuol Tut, Executive Director of Southern Sudanese Center of San Diego
- Barbara English, LMFT, CBT, Executive Director, Living Ubuntu
- Anshul Mittal, Operations Director, Living Ubuntu
- Jan Parker, LMFT, CBT, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, National University
- Charles Tatum, PhD, Lead MA in Human Behavior, Department of Psychology, National University
- Brenda L. Shook, PhD, Program Lead Faculty, Department of Psychology, National University
Living Ubuntu is a 501c3 non-profit organization with a focus on mind-body issues, specifically health and well-being, and the effects of stress, trauma and compassion fatigue. We seek to increase awareness of the global and local impact of these issues, build a sense of community, and encourage living a more fully embodied life. For more information, please visit http://livingubuntu.org.
National University is the second-largest, private, non-profit institution of higher learning in California. For more information, please visit http://nu.edu.
Southern Sudanese Community Center of San Diego is a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides support for those who have immigrated from war torn South Sudan. Most of its staff is unpaid volunteers who donate their time to support refugee communities. http://ssccsd.org.
Sudanese American Youth Center San Diego is a non-profit organization based in the San Diego, California area focusing on mentoring Sudanese youth on how to become successful in the United States and still maintain the Sudanese cultural identity and value. http://saycsd.org.
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Thank you in advance for your support.
This is a crucial step toward our goal of creating a community-based, sustainable Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees in San Diego. Thank you for helping us meet with success in this effort.
With gratitude,
Barbara & Anshul
Founders, Living Ubuntu
http://livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005
[Ubuntu] n.
Every human being truly becomes a human by means of relationships with other human being.
Gay refugees re-victimized in asylum system
One lesbian woman told how the immigration judge commented that she did not look like a lesbian. Another was told she could not be a lesbian because she had two children. A gay man from East Africa claiming asylum in Canada was forced to shout through bulletproof glass that he was a homosexual, within earshot of the fellow countrymen he was trying to get away from. Many LGBTI refugees avoid approaching the U.N. refugee agency or NGOs for help out of fear of having to wait with other refugees. The presence of interpreters from their countries of origin is another reason they stay away. An article at the Thomson Reuters Foundation examines the issue:
Imagine a woman who has fled to Britain after suffering rape, torture, imprisonment and family abuse because she is in a same-sex relationship.
Maybe she comes from Jamaica, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, all of which discriminate and legislate against homosexuality.
What sort of questions do you think immigration officials and judges will ask her when she requests asylum?
How about: “Have you read Oscar Wilde?”
The assumption that if you are gay you must have read the homosexual Anglo-Irish playwright – regardless of your culture, language and age – is breathtakingly inappropriate.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Lesbian asylum seekers interviewed in recent research in Britain also said they were asked to justify why they chose to be gay when they knew it was illegal in their home country. They were asked about sexual positions, how many Gay Pride marches they attended and which gay clubs they went to.
One woman told how the immigration judge commented that she did not look like a lesbian while another was told she could not be a lesbian because she had two children.
Experts in Britain and Canada say decisions regarding someone’s claim to be lesbian or gay often appear to be based on whether they conform to Western stereotypes.
The examples above are outlined in the latest issue of Forced Migration Review (FMR), published this week, which focuses on the problems faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees and asylum seekers.
Some 76 countries criminalise homosexual acts or what is termed gender-variant behaviour. In at least five of these countries the penalty can be death… Read more here
A God who obviously doesn't care
Something provoked me today.
Actually, a lot has provoked me recently and I am not going to go into the details.
Let me start at the beginning.
There is a cyclone coming to Western Burma, right. I already shared that. So those of us who are not in the area where the cyclone is supposed to hit are sitting around biting our nails wondering how big the devastation is going to be. It’s ironic, because the devastation has already happened. There are 140,000 people in Western Burma right now who are homeless, sick and starving. My husband, Steve, and our team leader, Brad, are literally running rugged trying to be that little drop in the ocean that can mean a difference to some of the ones in need.
What got me provoked (in addition to hearing of the lack of care and response of the Burma government) was when one of our staff members asked people to pray on her Facebook page. And somebody commented: “What about sending something that actually works instead of praying to a God who obviously doesn’t care.”
It stung all the way to where I was sitting.
This is why:
We are sending everything we have, including our husbands and wives. We are using money that people have given, every bit of it, to help where the help is needed. Yesterday, for example, we were able to feed 5000 people who had not eaten for five days. They food will only last them for some days. But at least it was food.
See this woman and her seven kids? They had not eaten for five days. So we gave them food. Not enough of course, but we gave what we were able to. Wish that the rest of the world would do the same. If they did, people would not starve.
Our team is sitting with these people in the pouring rain, assisting them, loving them, speaking on their behalf, trying to protect them, trying to comfort them, trying to give them what nobody else seems willing to give.
Who dares to say: Send something that actually works? I wanted to ask that person: What more can we send than what we are already sending? And: Why don’t you give up your comfort and wealth instead of pointing your finger to us?
And how dares anyone speak about a God who does not care? Is the suffering in the world caused by God now? Is he the reason state leaders allow innocent people to suffer? Is he the reason people in the West are more concerned with Angelina Jolie’s boobs than with the fact that thousands are facing death? Is he the reason we would rather spend more money on ourselves than on children who have nothing to eat?
I have seen a lot of suffering over the years. Much of it has brought me to tears. Much of it has left me depressed and overwhelmed. But it has not made me blame God for the suffering. Because I have seen where the suffering is coming from. It is from people. I have asked victims of violence how the suffering affects their faith, and this is what they have said: “How can we blame God for this? He is not responsible for this. Man is. If you take our faith in God away from us, then we have nothing.”
And that pretty much sums it up.
PS. By the way, feel free to give to Partners. We need your money more than ever. I know this is tacky, but it is true. You are not giving to me, but to people who don’t know what they are going to eat tomorrow. This will take you to a donation page. Good luck!
Angelina Jolie has a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer ~ N1ki
Government offers little hope to Kurdish refugees
“Kurdis refugees who have been camping outside the interior ministry for 15 days were told yesterday that the government cannot offer them subsidiary protection. Three members of the around 150 protesting refugees met with Interior Minister Socratis …”
Seeking wholeness…determined to soar
Editor’s Note: In recognition of May as National Mental Health Awareness Month, Rebecca Swift, LCSW, shares a story about her work as a behavioral health consultant to Siloam’s medical staff as they seek to provide whole-person care for our patients. Rebecca writes…
I wish I could introduce you to “Samir,” a refugee I met recently. He is a newly arrived refugee to the U.S. – alone – without any family. When I entered the exam room, Samir looked at me with tearful eyes and softly said, “I have no hope to live anymore.” I sat down as he continued saying that he was not sleeping well, was crying every day, and that he didn’t think he would ever amount to anything. We talked for quite a while about his experiences and the normal process of adjustment. By allowing him the chance to share his story and feel heard, I believe we made progress that day.
I attempted to offer some hope for him by arranging for on-going counseling services at one of our local mental health partner agencies. Knowing that he would be coming back to Siloam for another visit in two days, I gave him an assignment which I hoped would be therapeutic for his mind and his heart.
Samir is an artist, so I said to him, “I want you to paint a picture that answers the question, ‘Who am I?’” He stared strangely at me for a moment and then suddenly looked me straight in the eye and said, “I can do that. I can definitely do that!” He left the clinic with a smile on his face and determination to complete his “assignment.”
Two days later, Samir returned to Siloam glowing and sounding like a different person. He brought his sketch pad and a huge bag of other art projects. He sat for thirty minutes with me going over all of his art, showing me all the drawings he had completed from his memory, and then he pulled out the “assignment.”
I was amazed – what a beautiful picture he had painted! Samir had painted himself as a dove in a cage in his former homeland with evil, danger, and fear surrounding the cage. Then, when he stayed in another country for a brief time, he again felt like a dove in a cage but with less danger, although still imprisoned. Finally, he pointed at the top of the painting. There was a third dove, standing a little taller, with light coming from behind him, and with much more beautiful surroundings. Smiling at me he said, “This is me in the U.S. – I am still in a cage, but I know that good things are coming.”
Samir has been to Siloam a few times since our meeting and each time he is smiling and brings more of his paintings to show us. He is participating in counseling services that were arranged for him after his first visit, and I believe that with time, he will make a new life for himself that is full of hope and wholeness.
He will have many barriers to overcome in order to find wholeness, but the first step is being willing to acknowledge there is a problem and then accept help. One day I expect to see him paint a soaring dove free from any cage.
What Does Naqba Day Commemorate?
Hindu families torn apart in their desperation to flee persecution in Pakistan - Andrew Buncombe
They had waited for years. So when the opportunity came they took it, even if it meant leaving behind friends and neighbours, brothers and husbands. Even a three-day-old baby boy. Seven weeks ago, almost 500 Hindus from Pakistan crossed into India on the pretence of visiting a religious festival. In reality, they had come to escape religious persecution and poverty. Some said they would rather commit suicide than go back.
“Pakistan is worse than hell for Hindus,” said one of those who managed to flee, Laxman Das, a fruit trader from Hyderabad.
Though Pakistan was established as a state for Muslims, the original vision of its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was of a place of tolerance and inclusion.
“You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state,” he said in speech in August 1947.
Yet Jinnah’s vision has steadily been eroded. Today, as Pakistan prepares for a historic election on 11 May, its Christians and Hindus, which together comprise perhaps 3 per cent of the population, face persecution and assault. Some have fled.
“If people have any resources, they want to leave here,” Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said from Karachi.
The Pakistanis who have made their way to the village of Bijwasan, not far from Delhi’s international airport, all belong to the same Hindu caste and come from the same part of Sindh province. They have applied unsuccessfully for visas to India for years and hit upon the idea of asking to visit the Kumbh Mela festival, the most auspicious date in the Hindu calendar. Though the festival is held every three years, it is only every 12 years that it is held at the confluence of the sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers in Allahabad. This year the festival was held in February and March.
“Getting a passport is not so difficult. But getting a visa is very hard,” said 35-year-old Hanuman Prashad, another fruit trader from Hyderabad, explaining how they told the Indian authorities they wished to attend the festival.
The Hindus, who came in three groups, said their biggest motivation to leave was the challenge of educating their children. There was discrimination in government schools, where they were referred to as “kafirs”, told to go and work in the fields and obliged to recite the six kalimas, or tenets, of Islam.
For girls, it was even more difficult, so much so that few of the families bothered sending their daughters to school. “For the wealthy Hindus it is easier – they can send their children to better schools or else abroad,” Mr Das said.
They said the situation had become worse since the rule of the military leader General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who seized power in 1977 and for the next decade oversaw an increased Islamisation of Pakistan. Following the destruction of India’s Babri mosque by a Hindu mob in 1992, the Hindus of Pakistan were often the victims of revenge attacks.
While hundreds of Hindus received visas to attend the festival, not everyone did. Almost everyone at Bijwasan – where they are squeezed more than 20 to a room in a former school, the air filled with flies – can tell a story of leaving someone behind.
Hanuman Prashad, who came to India with his wife and six children, said his parents had not been successful. When it came to leaving, with the knowledge he would not return, everyone wept. But his parents were insistent. “Whatever happens to us, go and save your life. Take your kids,” they told him.
Bharti Sulanki had travelled to the crossing at the Pakistani border town Khokhrapar with her husband and seven children, the youngest being only three-days old. She said the Pakistani authorities demanded a passport and visa for the newborn, too young even to have been named.
She said she pleaded with the guards to let her cross with the boy she was still breastfeeding but they refused. Dazed and tear-stained, Ms Sulanki said she believed she had no alternative but to hand the child to a relative who had come to the border with them. Since then she has been unable to make contact to discover what has happened to her baby.
She said she had prayed they would get their visas earlier so she could have given birth in India.
“I had no option,” she sobbed. “I sacrificed the baby for the sake of the other six children, so they can have an education.”
A 30-year-old pregnant woman called Laran Keswari was equally distraught. She had crossed with her five children but her husband, who is disabled, had not obtained a visa. She told him she did not want to go without him but he insisted she go ahead for the sake of their children. “God is on your side,” he told her.
Ms Keswari is anxious about how she will manage by herself with her children, hoping against hope that her husband will be able to join them. “We speak on the phone but we are both always crying,” she said.
An irony of the group’s exodus from Pakistan, a journey to escape discrimination, is that it was made possible by people with fundamental and, in some cases, extremist views. Their host in Bijwasan was Naher Singh, a former customs officer and policeman, who accommodated another smaller group of refugees in 2011. He asked his rent-paying tenants to leave his property and housed the Pakistanis instead. “These people are my God and Goddess. I worship them,” he said.
Mr Singh said the cost of feeding and housing the 483 people was met by various Hindu groups, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Some of their members have been linked to confrontations with minority groups across India.
Mr Singh, who has been rousing his refugee guests at 3am to lead them in yoga and religious chants, said he wanted to forcibly drive Muslims from India. He made a series of inflammatory remarks.
Mr Singh was accompanied by a Hindu priest. Asked if Mr Singh was not displaying the sort of bigotry from which he claimed to be saving the refugees, the priest replied: “This is God talking through him. And I agree with him.”
The government of India has yet to publicly comment on the refugees or its plans for them. Sending them back to Pakistan would be politically fraught. Pakistan has not commented on the matter.
Mr Singh said he would fight any attempt to repatriate the refugees and claimed they would be accepted by the local community. He said: “We will find jobs for them here in the villages.” – The Independent, 7 May 2013
» Andrew Buncombe is the Asia correspondent for The Independent. He is stationed in New Delhi.
See also
- Pakistani Hindus arrive with horror tales
- Forced conversion of Hindus in Pakistan jolts US, not India
- Pakistani Hindu Refugees: Responsibility lies with the Congress government
- Poor and terrorised, Pakistani Hindus will not get refugee status in India
- Hindu girls are forced to marry Muslims, says Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Azra Fazal Pechuho
- Pakistan Hindu girl sent to protective custody amid conversion row
- Pakistan Supreme Court directs police to trace three Hindu women
- Woman tortured for ‘anti-Islam views’ in Pakistan
- Hindus in Pakistan – A People Without a Voice
- Hindu and Sikh Temples Targeted in Pakistan
- 60 Hindus Attacked and Forced Out of Their Homes for Drinking Water from ‘Muslims Only’ Fountain
- Hindu’s in Sindh, Pakistan Continue to Face Extreme Discrimination
- At least 25 Hindu Girls Abducted Every Month in the Islamic State of Pakistan
- Cleansing Hindus from Pakistan ‘The land of the ‘Pure’
- Hindus Continue to be Mistreated, Kidnapped and Killed in Pakistan
- 87-year-old Hindu Temple Facing Demolition in Pakistan
When Immigration Kills, Part III, Refugees in America
The Boston Marathon bombings brought light to the refugee situation in America. The Tsarnaev brothers came to this country as refugees. The younger brother, Dzhokhar, became a US citizen, while the older one, Tamerlan, was also here legally as a permanent resident.
According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) website, less than 80,000 refugees entered the US last year. The amount of refugees accepted varies from one year to the next. There is a difference between those classified as “refugees” and those who are asylum seekers. There are many asylum seekers. They are people who are vying for refugee status but whose claim of persecution has not been legally substantiated, and there are lots of people who fall into this category. But in order to be considered a “refugee,” one must be “outside his or her country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion who is unable to, or owing to such a fear, unwilling to avail him- or herself of the protection of that country. The definition is sometimes expanded to include people fleeing war or other armed conflict.”
Now in 2010, the refugee admission ceiling was 80,000. In other words, no more than 80,000 would be accepted. These numbers broke down as: 15,500 from Africa, 18,000 from East Asia, 2500 from Europe and Central Asia, 5500 from Latin American and the Caribbean, 38,000 from the Near East and South Asia, and an unallocated reserve of 500. Clearly, the category which allows for the most refugees is that of the Near or Middle East.
Now for the actual numbers for the same year in question, 2010:
A total of 73,293 refugees arrived. This number reflects the applicants and all their dependents. Nearly 25% of those refugees arrived from Iraq. Nearly 23% from Burma; 17% from Bhutan; almost 7% from Somalia; 5% from Iran; almost 1% from Ethiopia; nearly 7% from Cuba; a little over 4% from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a little over 3% from Eritrea; 1% from Vietnam; and the rest from various places.
That’s a lot of numbers. But what does it mean? Iraq, the biggest contributor of refugees in this country at the moment, is a Muslim majority country. In fact, nearly all Iraqis are Muslim. Most Somalis are Muslim as well, and same for Iranians. About a third of Ethiopians and a little over a third of Eritreans are also Muslim. It all boils down to this: as many as 40% of the refugees who enter the US each year follow the religion which is the very same religion over 90% of the terrorists in the world profess. And most of the terrorist acts committed by them are committed against America or other Western nations.
One might ask what difference it makes when it’s only a question of around 30,000 people. Consider this: the Tsarnaev brothers were two people, but those two people were responsible for the deaths of four people and the injuries of 264. And now police are investigating their possible involvement in a triple murder case from 2011.
They found it very difficult to assimilate and could not identify with American culture. This is despite all the help refugees are given. They are matched with a resettlement organization before arriving, and that organization then finds the perfect place for them to live based on employment possibilities, the availability of housing, etc. They are medically screened and have to pass a background check, which only serves to catch those who have already done something wrong, not those who have yet to be caught committing a crime, hardly a foolproof system. And finally, they receive a cultural education which could last as little as only three hours or be as many as several days. Even several days may not be enough when people arrive to this country from a completely foreign culture which is not in sync with our democratic and largely Judeo-Christian society.
Then everything is arranged for the refugees starting with their flight. They are even met at the airport, and within 30 days they apply for a social security number,( which opens up a lot of doors), their children must enroll in school, (most likely quite an eye opener to arrive in a new country with a completely different culture and within 30 days start going to an American school), and they are given the opportunity to learn English, either from a volunteer program or from a class offered in their new community.
All this help sounds wonderful, but even so, it is still not enough to transform someone from an Iraqi one day to an American in 30 days. The Tsarnaev brothers have clearly demonstrated this point. Even after spending ten of their young years here, it still was not enough. How many Tsarnaev brothers are in this country, having arrived as refugees? How many have become radicalized after arriving? Perhaps they have trouble fitting in and turn to Islam for guidance, the very same Islam which turns them against their adopted homeland.
Next we will take a look at two more refugees who became terrorists. To be continued…
By: Rachel Molschky
What Does Entrepreneurship Mean for Newcomers
Entrepreneurial Pathways for Refugees and Other Newcomers
One of the initial questions that most refugee women eagerly ask upon arrival in Canada is “how can I have an income for my family?”
For these women, income means status, dignity, pride and an acknowledgement of the many survival skills that they developed over years. Their level of enthusiasm for work is so high that when the opportunity for entrepreneurship is available with the required support, the success of these women would astonish most Canadians.
Many refugees come to Canada from years (often decades) spent in refugee camps after fleeing their home-country due to a life threatening situations. They have experienced trauma, deprivation and have had limited access to formal learning opportunities. At the same time, refugee women often manage the meager aid assistance the family receives and work in survival jobs to take care of their families. Their experience as refugees has taught them skills that have led them to entrepreneurial experiences. In fact, the extent of their unique and authentic skills might encourage a new stream of entrepreneurship beyond material benefits, a stream that is the sum of people’s own aspirations, efforts, and learning towards bettering themselves materially, socially, intellectually, and spiritually.
Economic security is one of the essential pillars of the successful settlement of immigrants and refugees. Saying this, many, if not most newcomers – particularly people who come to Canada as refugees – face challenges with starting and growing businesses including:
- understanding Canada’s official language/s, regulations,
- understanding the financial systems in Canada and knowing how to navigate and access available financial resources,
- having few or no local business contacts and limited knowledge of relevant business and professional networks, and above all,
- vulnerable stability in one’s life including:
- securing and sustaining a basic income for the immediate needs of the family;
- securing a stable place to live;
- securing affordable childcare; and
- addressing any immediate family health or other needs.
Whether developing a more formal or informal business, a person needs the necessary peace of mind to organize their thoughts and experiences to feed into the business planning process. This peace of mind can often be elusive when they have competing family priorities (such as listed above).
A common challenges for refugees is language and literacy barriers. Low literacy levels in financial management and business plan documentation make it challenging for refugees to meet the standard requirements that Canadian lenders expect to see in their business loan applications. Understanding the Canadian business regulatory environment and how it relates to them and their ventures can also be a significant challenge.
For those newcomers busy with ‘survival jobs,’ while also trying to build a business, time and access to financial resources to meet basic family needs and develop a new venture can be likened to carrying two watermelons in one hand. The example below – Fahima and the Malalay Cooperative – explains the cooperative learning process and how it is baked right into the operational model, flexible to accommodate the community and women’s individual needs.
To exemplify what a refugee family can experience when transitioning to a new country and environment, below is a real life example of some of the challenges newcomers can face.
Fahima and the Malalay Cooperative – Case Example
Fahima was a newly arrived refugee with her husband and four children, ages 10, 9, 7 and 5. She had little formal education or working experience prior to arriving in Canada. She started her initial testing of the Canadian system through becoming a member of the Malalay: Afghan Women’s Sewing and Crafts Co-op. As a grass roots initiative, the Malalay Cooperative is a community-based initiative that promotes equality and economic security for Afghan immigrant and refugee women. The Co-op represents how women can develop a strategy to generate income and gradually eliminate their dependence on social assistance.
As a women-centered business, the Afghan Women’s Sewing and Crafts Cooperative, provides a opportunity for newcomer Afghan women to achieve equality within broader Canadian society by being part of an intentional economic collective that is also a welcoming, safe, cultural relevant, and productive environment to network and develop marketable skills. Meeting and working together on self-identified goals, and gaining strength and support from one another gives the members hope in their ability to take control of their own lives.
In the co-op, Fahima found an environment for a process of self-development, support, learning opportunities and networking that also built her confidence in her intrinsic worth, values, strengths and capacities. Today, she and her family are expanding their collective family business and opening their second store where her husband and four children work with her.
From 2005-2008, Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC) (in partnership with other non-profit organizations with government and philanthropic funding), coordinated the start up and incubation of the grass-root initiative of Malalay Co-op with a focus on capacity building, access to funding resources, space, equipment and the development of the Co-op structure. The process was slow and ran at a pace that fit with the member base. The transition to an independent cooperative structure from an initial ISSofBC pilot project was gradual. The shared expertise and partnership between ISSofBC, Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), Vancity, Status of Women Canada, DevCo (a co-op development consultancy), and others was key to getting it off the ground and to sustaining the venture.
Another key element that was initiated after the Malalay Co-op on its feet was the formation of the Common Thread Co-op which creates the marketing and learning opportunities for members of Malalay Co-op as well as other hard-to-reach and/or marginalized women. For more details about the Common Thread, please visit: http://www.commonthreadcoop.ca
We also have the Women’s Economic Council and its Cluster Models for First Nations women in the North as another promising examples in Canadian communities.
(For more information about the development process of Malalay Cooperative, pleases read Effective Practices in Starting Co-ops – The Voice of Canadian Co-op Developers, by Joy Emmanuel and Lyn Cayo).
Canada is changing with new demographics. With the changing face of our neighborhoods and communities, organizations of all stripes need to thoughtfully consider these new societal assets and work with them to be productive and successful members of the Canadian business community and society at large.
For example, credit unions can integrate diversity right into the core of their financial offerings and programs. Strategies such as seeking and recruiting people (e.g. leaders and employees) equipped with relevant language and cultural backgrounds that have the capabilities to effectively engage and serve newcomer communities. Staff also need sufficient time and training to understand the dynamics and characteristics of particular ethnic communities. Often, new communities need customized community engagement strategies to get to know what credit unions stand for and be motivated to walk into a credit union’s door. Some examples of strategies are below:
- develop simplified learning tools to enable newcomers to understand what a credit union is, how they are different from banks, that also clearly explain the different product offerings;
- establish mentoring programs to connect newcomer entrepreneurs with more established entrepreneurs to connect and network them into more mainstream Canadian business circles;
- provide – or refer to those community organizations who do – consistent and long-term support from business planning, to post-launch support and after-care;
- create targeted marketing opportunities for newcomer-owned businesses to network with other business members where there is mutual benefit; and
- work in partnership with the settlement sectors and income assistance programs with focus on transition from income-assistance to self-sufficiency
- focus on long-term funds and long-term programming
We need to work together in order to create a favorable and enabling environment where people, including newcomers, can see themselves as part of the collective movement for social change, that will ultimately result in the prosperous and safe society that we all strive for.
Guest Expert
Gulalai Habib | Assistant Manager / Case Manager – Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP), Immigrant Services Society
Syria's Refugees and Fighting - Video 'Snapshots'
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Casualties associated with Syria’s civil war: 82,000.
The numbers come by way of the nonpartisan Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/syriaohr / web page: http://syriahr.com/en/
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ICG Latest Report - "Too Close for Comfort: Syrians in Lebanon"
Syria’s conflict is dragging down its neighbours, none more perilously than Lebanon. Beirut’s official policy of “dissociation” – seeking, by refraining from taking sides, to keep the war at arm’s length – is right in theory but increasingly dubious in practice. Porous boundaries, weapons smuggling, deepening involvement by anti-Syrian-regime Sunni Islamists on one side and the pro-regime Hizbollah on the other, and cross-border skirmishes, all atop a massive refugee inflow, implicate Lebanon ever more deeply in the conflict next door.
Also in the news this morning:
DAMASCUS — The Syrian information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, said Sunday that President Bashar Assad’s troops have the right to enter the Israeli-occupied Golan whenever they wish, a veiled threat toward Israel to stay out of Syria’s conflict.
‘‘The Golan is Syrian Arab territory and will remain so, even if the Israeli army is stationed there,’’ Zoubi said at a news conference. “We have the right to go in and out of it whenever we want and however we please,’’ he said.
Fightin’ words!
Assad has lost Syria, for these overtures signal a madness that knows it cannot do good — cannot take care of the country, the countryside, the economy, or the people — but it might feel better if it could destroy something even as it destroys itself.
With that last sentence, I have not been merely rhetorical.
On the world map, Syria remains a country. On the ground, it has devolved into a battlefield warred over by sectarian fiefdoms, guerrilla outfits, extremist militias, criminal gangs and a regime clinging grimly to its dwindling sources of power and legitimacy.
If you click on the above URL, you will see what war looks like on the face of the earth when viewed from outer space. Included in the remote sensing comparisons: Damascus, Homs, Daryya, Aleppo.
OzymandiasI met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Source: Wikipedia. “Ozmandias”.
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RFP: Grant Opportunities for Week of May 13, 2013
Good day, good day! Hope no one has a bad case of The Mondays. But if you do, no worries, we have new RFP list to get your week off to a good start. Not too much going on, but enjoy!
USAID/Uganda Education and Research to Improve Climate Change Adaptation USAID Ghana Trade and Agriculture Activity – DRAFT Program Description Establishment of an Academic Partnership in Elementary Education with Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan Leadership Institute for Secondary School Teachers The U.S./Pakistan Professional Partnership Program for Journalists FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Sri Lankan Refugees in Tamil Nadu, IndiaUnfinished War in Myanmar, Refugees and Mine Victims Waiting to Return Still Impossible-VIDEO
Published on 12 May 2013
ဒုကၡသည္ေတြ အိမ္မျပန္ႏိုင္ … ေျမျမွဳပ္မိုင္းအႏၱရာယ္
ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံဟာ ေျမျမွဳပ္မိုင္းေၾကာင့္ ေသဆံုးသူအမ်ားဆံုးရွိတဲ့ ကမၻာ့ႏိုင္ငံေတြထဲမွာ ႏွစ္စဥ္ပါဝင္ေနဆဲျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
ျပည္တြင္းစစ္ ႏွစ္ ၅ဝေက်ာ္လာၿပီး အစိုးရတပ္ကေရာ တိုင္းရင္းသား လက္နက္ကိုင္တပ္ေတြဘက္ကပါ ေျမျမွဳပ္မိုင္း အသံုးျပဳမႈေတြေၾကာင့္ အျပစ္မဲ့အရပ္သားေတြ ေသဆံုးမႈ၊ ထိခိုက္ဒဏ္ရာရမႈေတြကလည္း အခုထိ ရွိေနဆဲျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
5-9-2013 - Israel's Strategic Outlook - A Video Produced by The Washington Institute
http://livestre.am/4s6rh (90 minutes)
Introduction: “Tzachi Hanegbi, member of the Knesset, Likud, and former Israeli minister of intelligence, addresses The Washington Institute’s 2013 Soref Symposium. Thursday, May 9, 2013.”
The concept of “integrity” constitutes a global western theme in relation to the Islamic Small Wars.
In essence, the west anchors itself in empiricism, talks policy in the open, and the broader and more inclusive the conversation in participation, comprehension, and reach, the better for mankind.
The cited video, accessible worldwide with exception existing only in states too autocratic or too fragile and tender (or all three) provides a good example of the intellectual process. It has breadth and depth and may be viewed as easily in Riyadh or Islamabad as it is accessible in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
In this video, the Jewish question, oh my, actually comes up in the final minutes.
I may remind readers, Chomsky’s disingenuous rhetoric notwithstanding, that all of the world’s states contain a something-majority, whether Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim or something else: count on the world’s one Jewish-majority state surviving as such, and that specifically as the center of a global ethnic and religious commune with its heart ever in Jerusalem and its body in the spirit of the Land of Israel.
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Resentments surface in Turkish border town after twin blasts kill over 45 people
“Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attacks might be linked with resentment at the 20,000 to 25,000 Syrians living in refugee camps in Hatay, while deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc accused the Syrian regime and intelligence service …”
Resentments surface in Turkish border town after twin blasts kill over 45 people
'Kill the Syrians': Turkish mobs search out civil war refugees
“Three Syrians were among the 46 killed when the two car bombs struck the town centre on Saturday afternoon. But that did not lessen the anger vented against both the refugees and the man many locals blame for bringing them to Reyhanli, the Turkish …”
‘Kill the Syrians’: Turkish mobs search out civil war refugees after …
