Showing posts with label Resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resistance. Show all posts
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Oregon militia
Jan 7, 2016
The gun crowd likes to wax eloquent about protecting our natural rights with our weapons when the government becomes unconstitutional, and all other avenues have failed. They see themselves as law abiding insurrects that do not use violence and have confidence in the ballot box, and that that ensure that the government can’t stray too far toward tyranny. Fools playing with fire; a fire that will get us all burned.
The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
During the previous record month, December 2012, President Obama called for new buying restrictions after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Several days ago a group of right wing militiamen stormed a building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. The group is engaged in an armed occupation claiming to be opposing the U.S. government for perceived violations of their rights. They have also made the demand that two rancher brothers convicted of arson, Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, be released from prison. The 150-man strong occupation force is being led by three of Cliven Bundy’s sons, specifically Ammon Bundy. As you may recall they were engaged in an armed standoff with the F.B.I. in 2014 over a dispute involving cattle grazing land.
The militia men are arguing that they should own public land simply because they feel the government hasn’t been kind to them. Their goal is to build private businesses on the protected land. They’re trying to take away land that is being held in common for their own exploitation of it.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon and says it will work with local and state authorities to seek “a peaceful resolution to the situation.” The White House considers it “a local law enforcement matter,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said in a report on that standoff that the militiamen and the federal land-return movement are part of the same spectrum.
Clownish as such stunts unquestionably are, it bears remembering that the activities of such violent abolitionists as John Brown looked just as pointless in their time; their importance was purely as a gauge of the pressures building toward civil war—and that’s exactly the same reading I give to the event just described. The era of rural and urban guerrilla warfare, roadside bombs, internment camps, horrific human rights violations by all sides, and millions of refugees fleeing in all directions, that will bring down the United States of America is still a little while off yet.
Mass attitudes towards the other are influenced by the Media. In this day and age of information overload our brains are struggling to keep up with the demands of the digital age. Moreover, the Media is not a neutral player, but an instrument of the power elite. Thus, we are ripe for the simplifying power of the sound bite and the Media is more than willing to provide us with a boogeyman .
The neat and sharp-focused World offered by the establishment – where God is on our side, and The Others are evil Muslims and political correct Marxists conspiring to take away our freedom and wealth- is compelling and comforting; we have the firepower to do what needs to be done.
While the political ideology of the Tea Party is not an exact match of the European fascism of the 1930´s, there are troubling parallels between the events that lead to the Second World War and the circumstances of the early Twenty-First Century. The Tea Party movement shares with Fascism an obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, and victim-hood, as well as compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants embrace a credo of violence and ideology-driven armed militias .
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants:Thomas Jefferson.
Gun owners tend to be among the political right, and Second Amendment support is a common thread among Tea Party demonstrators. One of the fundamental mantra of them is guns as a mechanism of check and balance against tyranny. It sounds like sedition. There is a not only idle talk, there is a trail of actual terrorist activity. The Hutterite militia in Michigan was planning to kill police officers but they had not actually done anything violent before they were arrested, and their ultimate goal was to war against the anti-Christ. Timothy McVeigh in 1995 blamed the US Government for attacks against American citizens at Waco and Ruby Ridge.
The gun crowd likes to wax eloquent about protecting our natural rights with our weapons when the government becomes unconstitutional, and all other avenues have failed. They see themselves as law abiding insurrects that do not use violence and have confidence in the ballot box, and that that ensure that the government can’t stray too far toward tyranny. Fools playing with fire; a fire that will get us all burned.
“In the NRA’s world, we are only free to the extent that our guns allow us to impose our will on others.”Dennis Henigan of the Brady Campaign, “Gun Rights and Political Violence”
More guns were sold in December 2015 than almost any other month in nearly two decades, continuing a pattern of spikes in sales after terrorist attacks and calls for stricter gun-buying laws, according to federal data released on Monday.
The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
Fear of gun-buying restrictions has been the main driver of spikes in gun sales, far surpassing the effects of mass shootings and terrorist attacks alone, according to an analysis of federal background check data by The New York Times.
During the previous record month, December 2012, President Obama called for new buying restrictions after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Several days ago a group of right wing militiamen stormed a building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. The group is engaged in an armed occupation claiming to be opposing the U.S. government for perceived violations of their rights. They have also made the demand that two rancher brothers convicted of arson, Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, be released from prison. The 150-man strong occupation force is being led by three of Cliven Bundy’s sons, specifically Ammon Bundy. As you may recall they were engaged in an armed standoff with the F.B.I. in 2014 over a dispute involving cattle grazing land.
The militia men are arguing that they should own public land simply because they feel the government hasn’t been kind to them. Their goal is to build private businesses on the protected land. They’re trying to take away land that is being held in common for their own exploitation of it.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon and says it will work with local and state authorities to seek “a peaceful resolution to the situation.” The White House considers it “a local law enforcement matter,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said in a report on that standoff that the militiamen and the federal land-return movement are part of the same spectrum.
“Anti-government extremists have long pushed, most fiercely during Democratic administrations, rabid conspiracy theories about a nefarious New World Order, a socialist, gun-grabbing federal government and the evils of federal law enforcement,” the center said.
Law enforcement officials said that the occupiers came to the region with a specific goal:
“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers,” Harney County Sheriff David M. Ward said in a statement Sunday. “When in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”
Clownish as such stunts unquestionably are, it bears remembering that the activities of such violent abolitionists as John Brown looked just as pointless in their time; their importance was purely as a gauge of the pressures building toward civil war—and that’s exactly the same reading I give to the event just described. The era of rural and urban guerrilla warfare, roadside bombs, internment camps, horrific human rights violations by all sides, and millions of refugees fleeing in all directions, that will bring down the United States of America is still a little while off yet.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
xenophobic policies
The xenophobic policies offered up by Republicans in the wake of the Paris and Beirut attacks are simply jaw-dropping:
- Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz suggested bombing innocent civilians in the Middle East.
- Twenty-six Republican governors have vowed, without any legal authority, to block Syrian refugees from their states.
- Presidential candidate Jeb Bush joined Sen. Cruz in proposing that we block Syrian refugees based on religion — admitting Christian but not Muslim refugees.
- The House passed a bill requiring the FBI director, the secretary of Homeland Security and the director of National Intelligence to personally sign off on every refugee from Syria or Iraq.
References:
- Jonathan Martin, “Obama Says ‘Enough is Enough’ after Colorado Shooting,” New York Times, November 28, 2015.
- “Closing the Terror Gap in Gun Background Checks,” Everytown for Gun Safety, July 21, 2015.
- Judd Legum, "In Response To Paris, Ted Cruz Calls For Airstrikes With More ‘Tolerance For Civilian Casualties’," ThinkProgress.org, November 13, 2015.
- Sarah Frostenson and Dara Lind, “Here's a map of every state refusing to accept Syrian refugees,” Vox.com, November 18, 2015.
- Amy Davidson, “Ted Cruz’ Religious Test for Refugees, New Yorker, November 16, 2015.
- Camila Domonoske, “House Votes To Increase Security Checks On Refugees From Iraq, Syria,” NPR, November 19, 2015.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Sunday, September 14, 2014
slavery and the Qatar 2022 World Cup
We are so excited to tell you that your campaigning over the last few days has well and truly paid off: Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev, the activists that disappeared in Qatar, have been released and will shortly be on their way home. We’ve heard from Krishna’s family in the last few hours and Krishna himself posted this status on Facebook last night: “Just released, will fly in two days' time!”1
Your support was invaluable in bringing pressure to bear on the Qatari authorities and shining a light on the legitimate and important work of anti-slavery activists. Over 55,000 of you sent messages straight to the Qatari Minister of the Interior and Prime Minister to call on the authorities to investigate Krishna and Ghimire’s disappearance. 48 hours later we heard they were safe. Now we know they are coming home. This just goes to show what we can achieve when we speak out together with other anti-slavery activists and organisations around the world.
As someone that has taken action to end modern slavery in Qatar before, we know you know how important the work of researchers like Krishna and Ghimire is in uncovering the exploitation of migrant workers there. Thank you for continuing to support these efforts by calling for their release.
We’ll keep you updated as we hear more from Krishna and Ghimire when they return home, but we wanted to let you know as soon as possible that your campaigning has made a big difference in the fight to end modern slavery, once again.
In solidarity,
Jayde, Joanna, Fleur, Olly and the whole Walk Free team
P.S. Although it’s incredible news that Krishna and Ghimire are on their way home, the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar that they were investigating continues. We’re currently planning the next stages of the campaign to end modern slavery fuelling the Qatar 2022 World Cup and will let you know soon the next way you can take action. Thank you again for your continued support on this issue.
1 http://gnrd.net/seemore.php?
Dear Friend,
“I am being followed by the police here. Looks like they will give me troubles now.”1
This is one of the ominous final messages Krishna Upadhyaya sent before he and his colleague Ghimire Gundev disappeared in Qatar four days ago -- they haven’t been heard from since.
Krishna and Ghimire are British campaigners, working in Qatar on behalf of the Norwegian human rights organisation Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD). They had been researching the plight of migrant labourers constructing facilities for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, conducting interviews with Nepali labourers and investigating the terrible working conditions.
On Sunday they vanished. Krishna was last in touch with a friend who has since said: “He was feeling unsafe to leave the hotel premises and according to him there were many police, most likely undercover ones, coming in very close to him every time he spoke to anyone on the phone. He expressed that he felt very insecure about what might happen when he left the hotel for the airport.”2
Krishna checked out of his hotel but did not board a planned flight back to Norway. Both are now feared to be detained by the Qatari security forces. Their whereabouts remain undisclosed by Qatari authorities despite repeated efforts by their families, and GNRD to obtain their location.3 In short -- it’s feared that they may have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Take action now: call for the immediate safe return of Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev.
As someone that has previously taken action to end modern slavery in Qatar fuelled by the Qatar 2022 World Cup, you know how vital the work of researchers like Krishna and Ghimire is.
Krishna and Ghimire were working hard to keep the world’s attention on migrant workers trapped in conditions of modern slavery in Qatar. We cannot allow their mistreatment to continue. As fellow anti-slavery activists, we must take a stand and add to mounting pressure on the Qatari authorities to ensure Krishna and Ghimire are found.
Please join us in calling on the Qatari authorities to act by:
In solidarity,
Jayde, Joanna, Fleur, Olly and the whole Walk Free team
1 http://www.independent.co.
2 http://www.independent.co.
3 http://www.gnrd.net/seemore.
This morning, at one end of Kathmandu’s international airport, proud parents will bid farewell to their sons leaving Nepal in search of better jobs. But for the last month, the scene has been very different at the arrival terminal where wailing parents are met with the bodies of construction workers who died working in Qatar. Three to four bodies arriving daily.1
Is this just the beginning? Experts estimate over 1 million migrant workers could be at risk of modern slavery in Qatar between now and the 2022 World Cup; an average of twelve workers could die per week2 unless action is taken at this critical stage in the construction process.
We might have an opportunity to stop this crisis before it gets any worse… but time is short. Recent media coverage has caught the attention of international leaders and the Qatari government and most importantly – FIFA.3
Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup by FIFA. With their formidable leverage, FIFA could help ensure slavery is not tolerated in Qatar or in any country FIFA seeks partnership.
Click here to call on FIFA to help ensure construction for the Qatar World Cup does not use slave labour.
Reports of modern slavery from World Cup 2022 construction in the Qatari desert are chilling:
This is our moment. If FIFA takes advantage of this opportunity for policy reform, workers could be protected from falling into the nightmare of modern slavery in Qatar for generations to come. This could be the break we have been waiting for in the entire region.
It all comes down to us – ask FIFA to join our call to help end slavery in Qatar.
We’re asking FIFA to:
Thank you in advance for your support. Once you have taken action, please forward this message on to everyone you know. Together we have helped changed policy all over the world; together we can help end slavery in Qatar.
In solidarity,
Debra, Mich, Jess, Kamini, Sarah, Nick, Kate, Kyle and the Walk Free Team
[1] http://www.theguardian.
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/
[4] http://www.theguardian.
Your support was invaluable in bringing pressure to bear on the Qatari authorities and shining a light on the legitimate and important work of anti-slavery activists. Over 55,000 of you sent messages straight to the Qatari Minister of the Interior and Prime Minister to call on the authorities to investigate Krishna and Ghimire’s disappearance. 48 hours later we heard they were safe. Now we know they are coming home. This just goes to show what we can achieve when we speak out together with other anti-slavery activists and organisations around the world.
As someone that has taken action to end modern slavery in Qatar before, we know you know how important the work of researchers like Krishna and Ghimire is in uncovering the exploitation of migrant workers there. Thank you for continuing to support these efforts by calling for their release.
We’ll keep you updated as we hear more from Krishna and Ghimire when they return home, but we wanted to let you know as soon as possible that your campaigning has made a big difference in the fight to end modern slavery, once again.
In solidarity,
Jayde, Joanna, Fleur, Olly and the whole Walk Free team
P.S. Although it’s incredible news that Krishna and Ghimire are on their way home, the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar that they were investigating continues. We’re currently planning the next stages of the campaign to end modern slavery fuelling the Qatar 2022 World Cup and will let you know soon the next way you can take action. Thank you again for your continued support on this issue.
1 http://gnrd.net/seemore.php?
“I am being followed by the police here. Looks like they will give me troubles now.”1
This is one of the ominous final messages Krishna Upadhyaya sent before he and his colleague Ghimire Gundev disappeared in Qatar four days ago -- they haven’t been heard from since.
Krishna and Ghimire are British campaigners, working in Qatar on behalf of the Norwegian human rights organisation Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD). They had been researching the plight of migrant labourers constructing facilities for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, conducting interviews with Nepali labourers and investigating the terrible working conditions.
On Sunday they vanished. Krishna was last in touch with a friend who has since said: “He was feeling unsafe to leave the hotel premises and according to him there were many police, most likely undercover ones, coming in very close to him every time he spoke to anyone on the phone. He expressed that he felt very insecure about what might happen when he left the hotel for the airport.”2
Krishna checked out of his hotel but did not board a planned flight back to Norway. Both are now feared to be detained by the Qatari security forces. Their whereabouts remain undisclosed by Qatari authorities despite repeated efforts by their families, and GNRD to obtain their location.3 In short -- it’s feared that they may have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Take action now: call for the immediate safe return of Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev.
As someone that has previously taken action to end modern slavery in Qatar fuelled by the Qatar 2022 World Cup, you know how vital the work of researchers like Krishna and Ghimire is.
Krishna and Ghimire were working hard to keep the world’s attention on migrant workers trapped in conditions of modern slavery in Qatar. We cannot allow their mistreatment to continue. As fellow anti-slavery activists, we must take a stand and add to mounting pressure on the Qatari authorities to ensure Krishna and Ghimire are found.
Please join us in calling on the Qatari authorities to act by:
- Immediately investigating the whereabouts of Krishna and Ghimire and ensuring that they are allowed immediate access to their family members, a lawyer of their choice and to any medical treatment they may require.
- Ensuring that they are protected from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment.
- Recognising that labour standards apply to all migrant workers, including the workers on Qatar 2022 World Cup infrastructure projects.
In solidarity,
Jayde, Joanna, Fleur, Olly and the whole Walk Free team
1 http://www.independent.co.
2 http://www.independent.co.
3 http://www.gnrd.net/seemore.
Walk Free is a movement of people everywhere, fighting to end one of the world's greatest evils: Modern slavery.
Today FIFA officials are meeting in Switzerland and we are running out of time to make our message heard. We need to act now to end the modern slavery trapping the people that are working to bring the world the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Send a message to FIFA President Sepp Blatter demanding immediate action to tackle Qatar 2022 World Cup slavery.
This is where we'd typically go into a lot more detail on the situation but we're only hours away from being out of time (we’ve included the email we sent you on Monday below for more background).
But did we want to take a couple of minutes to share Narayan Nepali's story. Narayan is a migrant worker from Nepal who has since returned home after working in Qatar.
“Mostly Nepalese are despised and we’re treated like slaves. Our passports were confiscated the day that we arrived.
I’d like to tell the government of Qatar to realise that migrant workers have played a significant role in Qatar’s development. They should therefore pay migrant workers better and treat them with more respect.”1
No one should be treated this way, especially to bring us a sporting event. FIFA must take responsibility for awarding the 2022 World Cup to a country with historic issues of forced labour and worker exploitation.
Please stand with workers in Qatar and call on FIFA to help the end modern slavery that is fuelling the 2022 World Cup.
In solidarity,
Debra, Jayde, Mika, Joanna, Amy & the Walk Free team
P.S. We have a crucial window of opportunity to influence FIFA as they hold their Executive Committee meeting RIGHT NOW. Send President Sepp Blatter a message to let him know we expect action against modern slavery in Qatar.
------------------------------
On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 13:27 AM, Debra Rosen wrote:
At the end of last year, our community was celebrating. 172,407 of us sent messages to FIFA calling on the body to tackle the modern slavery fuelling the 2022 World Cup construction projects in Qatar – and FIFA listened. Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter pledged that FIFA would work with the International Trade Union Confederation to improve the unacceptable situation for workers there and we welcomed his declaration that "fair working conditions with a lasting effect must be introduced quickly in Qatar".2
Unfortunately these words have not yet been followed by action.
Latest reports show that migrant workers from Nepal and India continue to die in record numbers on Qatari construction sites since the country won its World Cup bid.3 A new "Worker’s Charter" released by Qatar 2022 organising authorities last month has been acknowledged as a starting point, but falls short of the significant reforms needed to tackle the shocking conditions for migrant workers.4 And at a recent hearing at the European Parliament FIFA was far from reassuring, asking: "What do you expect of a football organisation? FIFA is not the lawmaker in Qatar."5
We expect FIFA to take responsibility for its decision to award the 2022 World Cup to a country with historic issues of worker exploitation and forced labour. In just three days, top FIFA officials meet at their headquarters in Switzerland to discuss World Cup preparations: will you join us in demanding that ending modern slavery in Qatar be top of the agenda?
Call on FIFA President Sepp Blatter to take meaningful action against the modern slavery that is fuelling the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The Walk Free community helped push FIFA to commit to end worker exploitation; now we have the chance to put that commitment into action. FIFA’s Executive Committee is meeting on Thursday and Friday – top representatives from national football associations around the world will be there and the press will be reporting developments closely, with all eyes on FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter. This is a significant opportunity to get our message heard.
The time has come for FIFA to act – Sepp Blatter must use his influence over World Cup organisers to ensure all future FIFA World Cups are slavery free and that includes Qatar as a top priority.
FIFA should:
Send a message to FIFA President Sepp Blatter demanding immediate action to tackle Qatar 2022 World Cup slavery.
This is where we'd typically go into a lot more detail on the situation but we're only hours away from being out of time (we’ve included the email we sent you on Monday below for more background).
But did we want to take a couple of minutes to share Narayan Nepali's story. Narayan is a migrant worker from Nepal who has since returned home after working in Qatar.
“Mostly Nepalese are despised and we’re treated like slaves. Our passports were confiscated the day that we arrived.
I’d like to tell the government of Qatar to realise that migrant workers have played a significant role in Qatar’s development. They should therefore pay migrant workers better and treat them with more respect.”1
No one should be treated this way, especially to bring us a sporting event. FIFA must take responsibility for awarding the 2022 World Cup to a country with historic issues of forced labour and worker exploitation.
Please stand with workers in Qatar and call on FIFA to help the end modern slavery that is fuelling the 2022 World Cup.
In solidarity,
Debra, Jayde, Mika, Joanna, Amy & the Walk Free team
P.S. We have a crucial window of opportunity to influence FIFA as they hold their Executive Committee meeting RIGHT NOW. Send President Sepp Blatter a message to let him know we expect action against modern slavery in Qatar.
------------------------------
On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 13:27 AM, Debra Rosen wrote:
At the end of last year, our community was celebrating. 172,407 of us sent messages to FIFA calling on the body to tackle the modern slavery fuelling the 2022 World Cup construction projects in Qatar – and FIFA listened. Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter pledged that FIFA would work with the International Trade Union Confederation to improve the unacceptable situation for workers there and we welcomed his declaration that "fair working conditions with a lasting effect must be introduced quickly in Qatar".2
Unfortunately these words have not yet been followed by action.
Latest reports show that migrant workers from Nepal and India continue to die in record numbers on Qatari construction sites since the country won its World Cup bid.3 A new "Worker’s Charter" released by Qatar 2022 organising authorities last month has been acknowledged as a starting point, but falls short of the significant reforms needed to tackle the shocking conditions for migrant workers.4 And at a recent hearing at the European Parliament FIFA was far from reassuring, asking: "What do you expect of a football organisation? FIFA is not the lawmaker in Qatar."5
We expect FIFA to take responsibility for its decision to award the 2022 World Cup to a country with historic issues of worker exploitation and forced labour. In just three days, top FIFA officials meet at their headquarters in Switzerland to discuss World Cup preparations: will you join us in demanding that ending modern slavery in Qatar be top of the agenda?
Call on FIFA President Sepp Blatter to take meaningful action against the modern slavery that is fuelling the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The Walk Free community helped push FIFA to commit to end worker exploitation; now we have the chance to put that commitment into action. FIFA’s Executive Committee is meeting on Thursday and Friday – top representatives from national football associations around the world will be there and the press will be reporting developments closely, with all eyes on FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter. This is a significant opportunity to get our message heard.
The time has come for FIFA to act – Sepp Blatter must use his influence over World Cup organisers to ensure all future FIFA World Cups are slavery free and that includes Qatar as a top priority.
FIFA should:
- Call for an end to the exploitative kafala system in its current form in Qatar, specifically by allowing workers to freely change jobs and leave the country without their employer’s permission.
- Demand that fundamental labour rights are protected as a requirement for countries to be selected to host World Cups.
- Call on the Qatar 2022 organising authorities to establish a complaints mechanism that allows migrant workers to report abuses and secure justice.
It’s time for FIFA to play ball and help end modern slavery in Qatar – add your voice now.
If you agree that no one should die or be enslaved to bring us “the beautiful game”, please take action and help spread the word by asking three of your friends to do the same.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Debra, Jayde, Mika, Joanna, Amy & the Walk Free team
P.S. Right now, workers in Qatar are living, working and dying in modern slavery to bring us the 2022 World Cup. Please take action to help stop this.
1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=
2 www.fifa.com/worldcup/
3 www.theguardian.com/world/
4 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/
5 www.theguardian.com/world/
If you agree that no one should die or be enslaved to bring us “the beautiful game”, please take action and help spread the word by asking three of your friends to do the same.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Debra, Jayde, Mika, Joanna, Amy & the Walk Free team
P.S. Right now, workers in Qatar are living, working and dying in modern slavery to bring us the 2022 World Cup. Please take action to help stop this.
1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=
2 www.fifa.com/worldcup/
3 www.theguardian.com/world/
4 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/
5 www.theguardian.com/world/
Walk Free is a movement of people everywhere, fighting to end one of the world's greatest evils: Modern slavery.
This morning, at one end of Kathmandu’s international airport, proud parents will bid farewell to their sons leaving Nepal in search of better jobs. But for the last month, the scene has been very different at the arrival terminal where wailing parents are met with the bodies of construction workers who died working in Qatar. Three to four bodies arriving daily.1
Is this just the beginning? Experts estimate over 1 million migrant workers could be at risk of modern slavery in Qatar between now and the 2022 World Cup; an average of twelve workers could die per week2 unless action is taken at this critical stage in the construction process.
We might have an opportunity to stop this crisis before it gets any worse… but time is short. Recent media coverage has caught the attention of international leaders and the Qatari government and most importantly – FIFA.3
Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup by FIFA. With their formidable leverage, FIFA could help ensure slavery is not tolerated in Qatar or in any country FIFA seeks partnership.
Click here to call on FIFA to help ensure construction for the Qatar World Cup does not use slave labour.
Reports of modern slavery from World Cup 2022 construction in the Qatari desert are chilling:
- In a matter of weeks, 44 construction workers have died.
- Thousands of Nepalese workers are being forced to work in 50C/122F degree heat with no access to food or water, not paid, passports held to prevent them from leaving.4
- And just last week, investigative journalists were detained and questioned by Qatari authorities.5
This is our moment. If FIFA takes advantage of this opportunity for policy reform, workers could be protected from falling into the nightmare of modern slavery in Qatar for generations to come. This could be the break we have been waiting for in the entire region.
It all comes down to us – ask FIFA to join our call to help end slavery in Qatar.
We’re asking FIFA to:
- Call on the Qatari Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 to update contracts to meet international labour standards.
- Include audit requirements for all contracts affiliated with FIFA sporting events that include large-scale construction projects for cases of modern slavery with the initial bidding process.
- Publicly report the findings of audits for cases of modern slavery.
Thank you in advance for your support. Once you have taken action, please forward this message on to everyone you know. Together we have helped changed policy all over the world; together we can help end slavery in Qatar.
In solidarity,
Debra, Mich, Jess, Kamini, Sarah, Nick, Kate, Kyle and the Walk Free Team
[1] http://www.theguardian.
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/
[4] http://www.theguardian.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Palestinian land
Reuters
By Jeffrey Heller
JERUSALEM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years, drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke.
Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared "state land, on the instructions of the political echelon" by the military-run Civil Administration.
Edited time: June 28, 2013 12:43
Israeli settlers are up in arms about McDonald’s refusal to build an outlet in the West Bank, calling to boycott the company’s entire operations in Israel. The chain cited a policy of “staying out of occupied territories” with other businesses joining in.
McDonald's stated that its refusal to operate in the West Bank "had always been the restaurant chain's policy" and that its decision was not coordinated with McDonald’s headquarters in the US.
The co-owner of the new mall in the town of Ariel located in central West Bank admitted that some other international companies which were asked to open up businesses in the mall have also declined. He refused to specify which ones.
"The mediators told us that branches operating abroad and other companies holding rights in Israel for international brand names are worried about the potential negative response toward their businesses [from consumers] abroad if they open shops in the mall," Tzahi Nahmias told Calcalist newspaper.
In response Israeli settlers have called to boycott McDonald’s altogether. The right-wing ‘My Israel’ Facebook page posted a “McDonald’s: I’m not loving it” sign in protest.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
The Power Elite
One thing one have to acknowledge is that what we have is systemic corruption, rather than individual incidental corruption. Sure Obama is a corrupt egocentric cynic. But he is no closet communist, or a foreigner, or a worshiper of the malignant. He does no evil for evil sake. What he does is the bidding of power groups because that´s how he got to be President, and because it is the path of least resistance. Obama is no different in essence form, say, Bush. The Power elite gets its way because they are organized, concentrate Power and Money, and control the Media. The common man can resist by being informed, understand the issues, and look at policies on their own merits. Most of the public agenda is a charade of false topics to entertain the public and brand the two wings of the Business Party. It is hard to do but one must start from objective understanding: Who´s behind? Why? What are the implications?
Sunday, August 10, 2014
shopping can kill
To inform people in boycotting Israeli products (made in Israel or made outside of Israel but directly or indirectly support Israel) send out an emails, tweets, share Facebook pages, post boycott information on forums and different blogs, send out text/SMS messages to people in your mobile phone book, call people and tell them.
Most consumers do not realize the extent of the penetration of Israeli goods in Europe, and in particular the UK market.
The purpose of this campaign is to draw awareness to this and to encourage people to join the boycott by starting with boycotting 'made in Israel' products.
Does the boycott work?
According to the Israeli Union of Industrialists, following the attack on Gaza, one in five Israeli exporters are having difficulty selling abroad due to the boycott. Yair Rotloi, chairman of the association's foreign-trade committee revealed:
"Twenty one percent of local exporters report that they are facing problems in selling Israeli goods because of an anti-Israel boycott, mainly from the UK and Scandinavian countries".
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Peak Food
Peak food: The U.N.'s Food Price Index reached a new high in February 2011, exacerbating poverty in developing countries and creating potential for civil unrest. "Peak water" entered the popular lexicon in 2010, after two scientists classified threats to human use of rivers and underground aquifers, and to ecological stability. Peak coffee, peak chocolate, peak rare earth metals, peak travel have all followed suit. It's "peak" season.
Two simple trends are driving these concerns. The world has more people than ever, and more of those people than ever are breaking out of abject poverty and competing in a global market for goods and resources.
The human population passed 7 billion last year, and the U.N. projects it will top 9.3 billion by 2050. Most of the growth is occurring in Asia, where the population is on track to balloon 40 percent, to 8 billion, by midcentury.
An even bigger human accomplishment, and cause for worry, is the rise of the middle class. It's expected to nearly triple in the next two decades, to 4.9 billion people in 2030 from 1.8 billion today, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development. The Global Footprint Network, which developed a resource-accounting tool for countries, puts it this way: At current consumption rates, we'll need two Earths by 2030.
Are We About to Hit Peak Fertilizer?
By Occupy Monsanto
This article, Are We About to Hit Peak Fertilizer?, is syndicated from http://www.occupymonsanto360.org and is reposted here with permission.
http://www.occupymonsanto360.org (http://s.tt/1w8r1)Everyone knows about how the advent of artificial fertilizers and pest controls altered the face of agriculture around the world during the Green Revolution more than half a century ago. And while few people are fully ignorant of the damage done to the environment through the use of these synthetic pesticides (and fertilizers), not many people have given much any thought to what will happen when we run out of these vital resources; which is nearing much faster than you might have guessed.
Friday, July 4, 2014
She is Malala
In a young age, Malala had earned the respect and support of the world. On October 09, 2012, the taliban shot her in the head while she rode home on a bus. In attempting to obliterate Malala’s words, the Taliban instead, just amplified her message far beyond the Swat Valley, calling attention to the justice of her cause in every corner of the world. During that incident, when Malala was about to be shot, the Taliban asked “Which one is Malala?” Now the whole world knows which one is Malala.
Born on the 12th of July 1997, Malala was given her first name after a famous Pashtun poet and warrior woman from southern Afghanistan, Malalai of Maiwand. Her last name, Yousafzai, is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where she grew up. At her house in Mingora, she lived with her two younger brothers, her parents, and two pet chickens.
Malala was educated in large part by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who is a poet, school owner, and an educational activist himself, running a chain of schools known as the Khushal Public School. She once stated to an interviewer that she would like to become a doctor, though later her father encouraged her to become a politician instead. Ziauddin referred to his daughter as something entirely special, permitting her to stay up at night and talk about politics after her two brothers had been sent to bed.
Malala started speaking about education rights as early as September 2008, when her father took her to Peshawar to speak at the local press club.
"How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" Malala asked her audience in a speech covered by newspapers and television channels throughout the region.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
is a thought provoking book. Malala spoke with telling affection about her home country, and about the Pakistani people’s desire for prosperity, dignity and peace. Of the Taliban, whose threats against her continue, she expressed only the prayer that their children, all of their children, will have access to a real education as well. Mixed with the courage in her words, there is both personal humility and profound confidence; with passion in her voice, she summons everyone to unleash the power of young minds; to fight back against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism; and to know in our hearts that – again, in her words – “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.”
“Education is the only solution,” she declares, adding that, with sufficient bravery and respect for one another “No one can stop us.”
The first thing that impressed me was the universality of the story. The specifics are different but there is a parallel between Pakistan, The US, and the Taliban, and Mexico, The US, and the drug cartels.
The origin of the Taliban can be traced to the CIA, The grandfather of the modern Mexican drug cartels was Nassar Haro, a director of the Dirección Federal de Seguridad. According to Peter Dale Scott, the Dirección Federal de Seguridad was in part a CIA creation, and “the CIA’s closest government allies were for years in the DFS”. DFS badges, “handed out to top-level Mexican drug-traffickers, have been labelled by DEA agents a virtual ‘license to traffic.’” Scott says that “The Guadalajara Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful drug-trafficking network in the early 1980s, prospered largely because it enjoyed the protection of the DFS, under its chief Miguel Nassar (or Nazar) Haro, a CIA asset.
The Pakistani government makes a show of fighting the Taliban, harassing the populace, while high ranking generals regularly have lunch with the Taliban leadership. The Mexican government makes a show of fighting the Drug Cartels while high ranking government officials regularly have lunch with the Cartles leadership.
But the main message is that Malala is just a regular, tough hard driven, teenage girl. She describes how when in Abu Dabi, she started to panic just at the look of Arabic men filling the street, and how she calmed herself by recalling that she already came back from the dead. If she can fight for her rights, could we?
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Nakusa
— Jan. 26, 2014 9:12 AM EST
NEW DELHI (AP) — In the hours after her 6-year-old daughter was kidnapped, screaming in terror as she was dragged away from home, Rimaila Awungshi appealed for help from the most powerful authority she knew — the council of elders in her rural Indian village.
In her anguish, Awungshi told the village leaders what happened. She was a single mother to a beloved little girl named Yinring, whose name translates as "living in God's shelter." Her ex-boyfriend had refused to marry her or care for their child. But as the years passed and he never found a wife, his family demanded custody.
"But I am poor, and I have no brothers, and the village authority doesn't care," Awungshi said in a telephone interview from her home in remote northeast India.
Across much of rural India, these powerful and deeply conservative local councils are the law of the land. They serve as judge and jury, dictating everything from custody cases to how women should dress to whether young lovers deserve to live or die.
They often enforce strict social norms about marriage and gender roles.
These unelected and unregulated courts now are coming under fresh scrutiny after police say a council of elders in West Bengal ordered the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman as punishment for falling in love with the man from a different community.
"We are going back to the 16th century," Pradip Bhattacharya, a politician in West Bengal, said this week as news of the gang rape began to spread in a country already reeling from a string of high-profile cases of sexual violence against women.
Village councils are common in India with vast rural communities, serving as the only practical means of delivering justice in areas where local governments are either too far away or too ineffective to mediate disputes. Often, the elders try to halt the march of the modern world, enforcing strict social norms about marriage and gender roles.
In some of the most extreme cases, the councils have sanctioned so-called honor killings, usually against women suspected of out-of-wedlock sex. Known as khap panchayats in northern India, the councils act with impunity because villagers risk being ostracized if they flout the rulings.
The courts can be especially harsh toward women, enforcing the most conservative aspects a patriarchal system that is deeply entrenched in Indian society.
5 January 2013 Last updated at 01:07 GMT
Violence against women is deeply entrenched in the feudal, patriarchal Indian society, where for the rapist, every woman is fair game.
In 2003, the country was shamed when a 28-year-old Swiss diplomat was forced into her own car by two men in south Delhi's posh Siri Fort area and raped by one of them. The rapist, whom she described as being fluent in English, spoke to her about Switzerland and is believed to have even lectured her on Indian culture.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
women in Islam
The Iraqi Council of Representatives will vote to legalise Forced Child Marriage1.
The specifics of the legislation (part of the Jaafari Personal Status Law) are terrifying:
- There will no longer be a minimum age to legally marry (it’s currently 18) but the law provides policies for divorcing a 9-year-old girl;
- A girl’s father would legally be able to accept a marriage proposal on her behalf; and
- The girl would be legally prohibited from resisting her husband’s advances and leaving the home without his permission.
The law was sent to the Council of Representatives yesterday, and the vote could happen any time now. To prevent Iraq’s girls from becoming vulnerable to forced child marriage it is crucial that we act now.
Currently, Iraq has one of the most progressive policies on women’s rights in the Middle East -- setting the legal marriage age at 18 and prohibiting forced marriage2.
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