Monthly Archives: May 2011
Mahatma Gandhi Quotes (3)
If you’re seeking a source of inspiration, there’s nothing like Mahatma Gandhi quotes. After all, who’s had a bigger influence on this century’s struggle for peace?
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, ALWAYS.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Fear is not a physical capacity desease of the body; fear kills the soul.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.
The truest test of civilization, culture, and dignity is character, not clothing.
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Democracy is an impossible thing until the power is shared by all, but let not democracy degenerate into mobocracy.
They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
Human trafficking in India
Filmed in Nepal and India this documentary presents the stories of young girls whose lives have been shattered by the child sex slave trade…
An unforgettable look at young girls in Bombay whose lives are shattered
Swedish crime writer Mankell joins Gaza convoy
CBC NEWS
Bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, who was held in Israel for participating in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2010, plans to be aboard a new Gaza aid convoy to sail this June.
Organizers say the convoy will be double the size of last year’s effort, which was stopped by Israeli commandos.
Mankell, 63, is among 20 other Swedes expected to take part. Other participants will come from Europe, Canada and the U.S.
Mankell’s Kurt Wallander crime novels have made him one of Sweden’s best-known authors, with the books translated into 40 languages. Earlier this year, he won Spain’s Arcebispo San Clemente Prize for his novel The Man from Beijing.
The Gaza-bound flotilla will attempt to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver food, medicine and other supplies to the Palestinian territory.
Nine activists were killed in last year’s efforts after Israeli commandos boarded the ships.
America will buy anything
By Gideon Levy
Netanyahu’s speech to Congress speech shows America will buy anything
It was an address with no destination, filled with lies on top of lies and illusions heaped on illusions. Only rarely is a foreign head of state invited to speak before Congress. It’s unlikely that any other has attempted to sell them such a pile of propaganda and prevarication, such hypocrisy and sanctimony as Benjamin Netanyahu did yesterday.
The fact that the Congress rose to its feet multiple times to applaud him says more about the ignorance of its members than the quality of their guest’s speech. An Israeli presence on the Jordan River – cheering. Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel – applause. Did American’s elected representatives know that they were cheering for the death of possibility? If America loved it, we’re in big trouble.
The fact that the only truth spoken in the Capitol was that of a former Israeli shouting “equal rights for Palestinians” is a badge of honor for us and a mark of shame for America. Netanyahu’s “speech of his life” was the speech of the death of peace.
It was a 1970s show. Maybe back then people still bought the piles of pretty, wise words shoveled by a peace-loving Israeli prime minister. How can an Israeli prime minister dare to say his country “fully supports the desire of Arab peoples in our region to live freely” without spitting out the entire bitter truth – as long as they aren’t Palestinian. Suddenly Netanyahu marvels at the Arab Spring, but where was he when it began? He was on his standard scare campaign, warning of the dangers of an extremist Islamic regime and rushing to build a fence along our border with Egypt. And yesterday, suddenly, it’s “the promise of a new dawn.” Apparently there is no end to hypocrisy.
And how could he rain praise on Israeli democracy when his government has done more than its predecessors to deal the mortal blow to that democracy, to pass completely anti-democratic laws? How can he boast of the status of Israel’s Arab citizens, while his right-wing, nationalistic coalition is passing racist laws against them? Saying that Israel’s Arabs have more freedom in Israel than in any Arab state is like saying that blacks in American have more rights than those in Africa. So what? Does that mean that African-Americans had equal rights for generations, that they didn’t have to fight for their rights?
And how dare he speak about freedom of worship in Jerusalem at a time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been denied that freedom for years. Freedom of worship in Jerusalem is for Palestinians aged 35 and up, sometimes 45 and up; sometimes even 65 isn’t old enough. And for the 2 million people of the Gaza Strip, there is no such freedom at all.
How can Netanyahu praise the peace with Egypt, when it’s easy to guess he would have voted against it? The man who explicitly said he would do his level best to destroy the Oslo Accords suddenly says he’s in favor of peace with the Palestinians.
Last night we saw that the Americans will buy anything, or at least their applauding legislators will.
Saudi woman arrested for challenging driving ban
Reuters
JEDDAH - Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the Internet of her driving, activists said.
The YouTube video, posted on Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the United States, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.
“Police arrested her at 3 a.m. this morning,” said Maha Taher, another female activist who launched her own campaign for women driving four months ago to spread awareness of the issue.
An Eastern Province police spokesperson declined to comment and an interior ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent and applies an austere version of Sunni Islam in which religious police patrol the streets to ensure public segregation between men and women.
Women in the country are not allowed to drive and must have written approval from a designated guardian — a father, husband, brother or son — to leave the country, work or travel abroad.
The campaign Alsharif launched is aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licences.
While there is no written law that specifically bans women from driving, Saudi law requires citizens use a locally issued licence while in the country. Such licences are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.
“When the police stopped her they told her she violated the ’norms’. There is no law that says women can’t drive in Saudi Arabia and this arrest is unjust. She is a role model for a lot of people and the arrest will provoke her supporters. Now more women want to drive,” Taher said.
