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Archive for the ‘World peace’ Category
Even in Egypt “the proof is in the pudding”
Posted in Egypt, Food for thought, Poetry comes up where it will, TED Talks, World peace, tagged Egypt, Equality for Women, Human rights on February 8, 2011| 2 Comments »
It seems that the US Government will find itself once again on the wrong side of history. Even though the administration’s official position is in support of the pro-democracy movement in Egypt, it is clear that no one is willing to turn off the 1.8 billion dollar spigot which helps maintain the oppressive regime of Hosnei Mubarak. One point eight-billion dollars annually flow from the pockets of US citizens into the coffers of the Egyptian military and the Mubarak regime’s security apparatus that suppresses the Egyptian people.
Instead of lending real support to the struggle for democracy in the middle east, our government supports a dictator who is ‘promising reform.’ My question is this:
At what point can anything Mubarak promises be trusted?
Is he not the man who declared emergency powers and has maintained them for more than thirty years?
Is he not the one who has promised many times before that civil rights will be restored in Egypt?
Is Mubarak not the one who assured the people before that elections would be open and fair, that he would relinquish his position as head of the official political party, the party that wields all the power in the land?
Is he not the one whose family has accumulated over forty billion dollars in wealth during his years in power? And how much of his wealth came from the pockets of the US taxpayer over the many years of aid given to the Mubarak regime?
And furthermore, are we so entrenched in our way of giving lip service to freedom that we are willing to stand by the rapist who promises not to abuse his victim again?
Or are we finally willing to say to him: Enough already! You have to go!
Will we finally stand on the right side of history and trust the people of Egypt to build their own version of democracy?
As events unfold in the streets of Egypt I want to bring the powerful words of Suheir Hammad to your attention.
Suheir Hammad is a poet who “blends the stories and sounds of her Palestinian-American heritage” to bring us her “meditations on war and peace, on women and power.”
May the world heed the truth she speaks in the concluding line of her poem: “Do not fear what has blown up. If you must, fear the unexploded.”
“The triviality of US Mideast policy”
Posted in Egypt, Food for thought, World peace, tagged Egypt, Human rights on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
In my Egypt watch I have come across on op-ed by Robert Grenier, who is a retired twenty-seven year veteran of the CIA’s clandestine services.
His insights surprised me because he had served as Director of the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center under George W from 2004-06.
You may also find his post worth reading:
The triviality of US Mideast policy – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.
Aljazeera English live-streams the uprising in Egypt
Posted in Egypt, World peace, tagged Egypt, Human rights on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Like me, you many have had trouble to get primary, unfiltered information coming out of Egypt. I find that US television coverage of the unfolding events is highly processed and repetitive. I have found that only Aljazeera English live-streams the revolution with sufficient commentary to keep viewers truly informed.
Here is the link I’d like to share with you:
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
Please note that there is also a slight delay at the beginning of the live-stream.
“Night falls on Egypt”
Posted in Egypt, Food for thought, World peace, tagged Egypt, Equality for Women, Human rights on January 29, 2011| 1 Comment »
These past few mornings I am not surprised to wake to news of revolution coming out of Egypt.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/egypt_protests_live_updat_n_815233.html
This news I had anticipated for a long time since I watched Egypt fall into Mubarak’s hands some thirty years ago. Watched as an ancient culture turned into an oppressed society ruled by nothing less than a dictatorship. My interest in Egypt is rooted in my own history, because Egypt could have easily become my home some forty years ago, when instead I chose the United States where women had a chance at equal rights.
As Cairo burns I think of the young Egyptian whom I met right after leaving my childhood home. I was all but eighteen when I arrived by train in one of Germany’s largest and cosmopolitan cities in the North. And there he was, as if waiting for me to disembark at the train station in Altona. To a blond girl with bright blue eyes, he seemed exotic in his dark-eyed beauty. Oddly enough, meeting him was no shocking surprise for I had learned to love the Pharaohs’ Egypt while studying their history throughout my teens.
There he was, my Egyptian prince – slender and dark with coal-black and wavy hair. And here I was with, as he described, ‘alabaster skin and the sky in my eyes and the sun caught in my hair.’ And yes we fell in love, for his studies had led him to Germany; and to him I was a part of his new life.
To be honest, I have not though about him much these forty years. He was the road I did not take because my fear of losing independence was too great. He was a modern man, but it was clear enough that if I followed him to his ancient land, as a woman, my life would be restricted by society. Some forty years ago, I walked away and chose a life of personal liberty.
Yet today, as Cairo burns, I wonder if he is there.
Are his children in those streets?
Are his sons and possibly his daughters among the brave who say ENOUGH?
And what of him?
And further more, will his people persevere and will Democracy come at last?
Or will history repeat itself and Egypt see a tragic end to revolution as Iran did in the Summer of 2009?
Hope for a better world
Posted in Compassion, empathy, love, TED Talks, World peace on January 18, 2011| 3 Comments »
I want to follow my last post with three TED presentations in order to share with you a multitude of women who (unlike Sarah Palin) are neither ignorant, nor self-righteous. The videos show three extraordinary women who, each in her on chosen sphere of influence, are making a real difference.
Meet Majora Carter, who starting in the South Bronx, has redefined the field of environmental equality. In her presentation she brings us the stories of three individuals who are saving their own communities while also doing their part to save our planet.
Next meet Lesley Hazelton, a journalist and accidental theologist, who one day sat down to read the entire Koran. Her presentation shares with us what she found in the Islamic holy book which was not at all what she had expected.
Please click on the link below to see the video:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazelton_on_reading_the_koran.html
And finally, meet Jody Williams who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in eradicating landmines. TED describes her as bringing “tough love to the dream of world peace, with her racer-sharp take on what ‘peace’ really means, and a set of profound stories that zero in on the creative struggle — and sacrifice — of those who work for it.”
Listening to women like Majora Carter, Lesley Hazelton, and Jody Williams makes me proud to be a woman and hopeful for the future of our world.
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