Nuclear Energy, energy released during the splitting or fusing of atomic nuclei. The energy of any system, whether physical, chemical, or nuclear, is manifested by the system’s ability to do work or to release heat or radiation. The total energy in a system is always conserved, but it can be transferred to another system or changed in form.

Until about 1800 the principal fuel was wood, its energy derived from solar energy stored in plants during their lifetimes. Since the Industrial Revolution, people have depended on fossil fuels—coal, petroleum, and natural gas—also derived from stored solar energy. When a fossil fuel such as coal is burned, atoms of hydrogen and carbon in the coal combine with oxygen atoms in air. Water and carbon dioxide are produced and heat is released, equivalent to about 1.6 kilowatt-hours per kilogram or about 10 electron volts (eV) per atom of carbon. This amount of energy is typical of chemical reactions resulting from changes in the electronic structure of the atoms. A part of the energy released as heat keeps the adjacent fuel hot enough to keep the reaction going.

The atom consists of a small, massive, positively charged core (nucleus) surrounded by electrons (see Atom). The nucleus, containing most of the mass of the atom, is itself composed of neutrons and protons bound together by very strong nuclear forces, much greater than the electrical forces that bind the electrons to the nucleus. The mass number A of a nucleus is the number of nucleons, or protons and neutrons, it contains; the atomic number Z is the number of positively charged protons. A specific nucleus is designated as ¿U the expression ¯U, for example, represents uranium-235. See Isotope.

The binding energy of a nucleus is a measure of how tightly its protons and neutrons are held together by the nuclear forces. The binding energy per nucleon, the energy required to remove one neutron or proton from a nucleus, is a function of the mass number A. The curve of binding energy implies that if two light nuclei near the left end of the curve coalesce to form a heavier nucleus, or if a heavy nucleus at the far right splits into two lighter ones, more tightly bound nuclei result, and energy will be released.

The two key characteristics of nuclear fission important for the practical release of nuclear energy are both evident in equation (2). First, the energy per fission is very large. In practical units, the fission of 1 kg (2.2 lb) of uranium-235 releases 18.7 million kilowatt-hours as heat. Second, the fission process initiated by the absorption of one neutron in uranium-235 releases about 2.5 neutrons, on the average, from the split nuclei. The neutrons released in this manner quickly cause the fission of two more atoms, thereby releasing four or more additional neutrons and initiating a self-sustaining series of nuclear fissions, or a chain reaction, which results in continuous release of nuclear energy.

Naturally occurring uranium contains only 0.71 percent uranium-235; the remainder is the nonfissile isotope uranium-238. A mass of natural uranium by itself, no matter how large, cannot sustain a chain reaction because only the uranium-235 is easily fissionable. The probability that a fission neutron with an initial energy of about 1 MeV will induce fission is rather low, but the probability can be increased by a factor of hundreds when the neutron is slowed down through a series of elastic collisions with light nuclei such as hydrogen, deuterium, or carbon. This fact is the basis for the design of practical energy-producing fission reactors.

In December 1942 at the University of Chicago, the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi succeeded in producing the first nuclear chain reaction. This was done with an arrangement of natural uranium lumps distributed within a large stack of pure graphite, a form of carbon. In Fermi’s “pile,” or nuclear reactor, the graphite moderator served to slow the neutrons.
The first large-scale nuclear reactors were built in 1944 at Hanford, Washington, for the production of nuclear weapons material. The fuel was natural uranium metal; the moderator, graphite. Plutonium was produced in these plants by neutron absorption in uranium-238; the power produced was not used.

A. Light-Water and Heavy-Water Reactors

A variety of reactor types, characterized by the type of fuel, moderator, and coolant used, have been built throughout the world for the production of electric power. In the United States, with few exceptions, power reactors use nuclear fuel in the form of uranium oxide isotopically enriched to about three percent uranium-235. The moderator and coolant are highly purified ordinary water. A reactor of this type is called a light-water reactor (LWR).

In the pressurized-water reactor (PWR), a version of the LWR system, the water coolant operates at a pressure of about 150 atmospheres. It is pumped through the reactor core, where it is heated to about 325° C (about 620° F). The superheated water is pumped through a steam generator, where, through heat exchangers, a secondary loop of water is heated and converted to steam. This steam drives one or more turbine generators, is condensed, and is pumped back to the steam generator. The secondary loop is isolated from the water in the reactor core and, therefore, is not radioactive. A third stream of water from a lake, river, or cooling tower is used to condense the steam. The reactor pressure vessel is about 15 m (about 49 ft) high and 5 m (about 16.4 ft) in diameter, with walls 25 cm (about 10 in) thick. The core houses some 82 metric tons of uranium oxide contained in thin corrosion-resistant tubes clustered into fuel bundles.

In the boiling-water reactor (BWR), a second type of LWR, the water coolant is permitted to boil within the core, by operating at somewhat lower pressure. The steam produced in the reactor pressure vessel is piped directly to the turbine generator, is condensed, and is then pumped back to the reactor. Although the steam is radioactive, there is no intermediate heat exchanger between the reactor and turbine to decrease efficiency. As in the PWR, the condenser cooling water has a separate source, such as a lake or river.

The power level of an operating reactor is monitored by a variety of thermal, flow, and nuclear instruments. Power output is controlled by inserting or removing from the core a group of neutron-absorbing control rods. The position of these rods determines the power level at which the chain reaction is just self-sustaining.

During operation, and even after shutdown, a large, 1,000-megawatt (MW) power reactor contains billions of curies of radioactivity. Radiation emitted from the reactor during operation and from the fission products after shutdown is absorbed in thick concrete shields around the reactor and primary coolant system. Other safety features include emergency core cooling systems to prevent core overheating in the event of malfunction of the main coolant systems and, in most countries, a large steel and concrete containment building to retain any radioactive elements that might escape in the event of a leak.

Although more than 100 nuclear power plants were operating or being built in the United States at the beginning of the 1980s, in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979 safety concerns and economic factors combined to block any additional growth in nuclear power. No orders for nuclear plants have been placed in the United States since 1978, and some plants that have been completed have not been allowed to operate. In 1996 about 22 percent of the electric power generated in the United States came from nuclear power plants. In contrast, in France almost three-quarters of the electricity generated was from nuclear power plants.

In the initial period of nuclear power development in the early 1950s, enriched uranium was available only in the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The nuclear power programs in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom therefore centered about natural uranium reactors, in which ordinary water cannot be used as the moderator because it absorbs too many neutrons. This limitation led Canadian engineers to develop a reactor cooled and moderated by deuterium oxide (D2O), or heavy water. The Canadian deuterium-uranium reactor known as CANDU has operated satisfactorily in Canada, and similar plants have been built in India, Argentina, and elsewhere.

In the United Kingdom and France the first full-scale power reactors were fueled with natural uranium metal, were graphite-moderated, and were cooled with carbon dioxide gas under pressure. These initial designs have been superseded in the United Kingdom by a system that uses enriched uranium fuel. In France the initial reactor type chosen was dropped in favor of the PWR of U.S. design when enriched uranium became available from French isotope-enrichment plants. Russia and the other successor states of the USSR had a large nuclear power program, using both graphite-moderated and PWR systems.

15-6

By Richard Silverstein

A highly-placed Israeli source informs me that Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Fordo has been extensively damaged by an explosion.  The bomb was the work of a joint Israeli-U.S.-MEK sabotage operation codenamed Achilles, which used a Trojan horse to infiltrate the plant.

Bibi Netanyahu convened an extraordinary meeting of all the top intelligence and military brass on Wednesday, the day after the election, to evaluate Achilles.  They deemed it a “great success.”  Word of the meeting leaked to the media, so the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released a cover story saying the meeting was about the Syrian situation (Hebrew).  It wasn’t.

Such sabotage has happened before to Iranian nuclear facilities.  But one of the things that is new about this operation is that this is the first time in his previous reporting that my source has told me the U.S. and MEK collaborated with the Mossad.  Previous assassinations were joint efforts of only the MEK and Israel.  If this is true, it may mean that the State Department’s removal of the MEK from the U.S. terror list has allowed the CIA to begin working with the Iranian group in a much more direct fashion.  Those of us who know about the nature of the MEK can only be alarmed that our government is allying itself with a terrorist cult.

Iranian intelligence sources who defected to the west: the uranium enrichment plant in the belly of the earth near Qom was destroyed last week.
Alex Fishman, whose article accompanies the headline, includes hardly a reference to the astonishing news featured in the headline.  He does refer to sabotage and mysterious failures which have beset the nuclear program and caused any estimation of an Iranian nuclear weapon to be delayed by two years.

The Yediot headline may refer to a report by Iranian defector using the pseudonym, Reza Khalili, and published in the far-right news site, WND.  He was the first to report on the explosion and based his story on a former Iranian intelligence official.  That source alleges:

The regime believes the blast was sabotage and the explosives could have reached the area disguised as equipment or in the uranium hexafluoride stock transferred to the site…
The accident occurred on Monday at 11AM Iran time.  He adds that 240 personnel are also trapped underground and could not be rescued so far.
To be candid, I would never believe anything Khalili said unless it could be independently corroborated.  This explains why.  He is an entirely untrustworthy source, nor is WND a reliable publication.  But given my source, who added further details not published by Fishman or Khalili, I trust there was an explosion at Fordo.  Further, I spoke with an Israeli security correspondent whose work is entirely independent and trustworthy.  He too is confident there was such an event.  He also agreed the information I published above was accurate as far as what he knows.

Now the question is what impact this will have on Iran’s nuclear program and on the prospect for an attack against Iran.  Fordo was Iran’s most advanced, secret, and secure enrichment facility and damaging or destroying it would be a major blow.  Further, since the Iranians believed it was impregnable to attack they saw it as a “winning negotiation card” according to Muhammad Sahimi, they could use in negotiations with the west.  Now they’ve lost that card and proven that even their most well-protected facility is vulnerable.

But Iran has decentralized its program so that precisely such a setback will not destroy the entire project.  Only 20% of Iran’s centrifuges were in Fordo.  The rest are in Natanz and other sites.  The loss of a large number of scientific and technical staff, if that has occurred, will also damage the program.  But again, it has been organized so that even such a devastating outcome could be overcome by other research units around the country.  Progress will be delayed, but not stopped or reversed.

As to the likelihood of an attack against Iran, if this story is accurate that prospect has been delayed or even eliminated.  Pres. Obama will find no urgency whatsoever to attack Iran militarily when sabotage has proven so effective.  Depending on how Bibi reacts, it may drive an even deeper wedge between them if he doesn’t give up the idea of such a joint attack with the U.S.

But I point out as I have every time I’ve reported such scoops: sabotage is not a substitute for having an actual policy concerning Iran’s nuclear program.  It does not persuade Iran to renounce its efforts.  It does not undermine Netanyahu’s long-standing hatred for Iran and his desire for regime change.  Sabotage, whether it’s an explosion or the murder of nuclear scientists, only delays the inevitable.  If Iran determines to have a nuclear weapon, it will.  Nothing short of regime change can stop such a development.

But Iran’s leaders have repeatedly said they do not intend to create such a weapon.  Western and U.S. intelligence sources confirm no evidence proving that Iran is moving in this direction.  So what are we sabotaging and why?

Finally, if we want to come to an understanding with Iran about its nuclear program we must do that at the negotiating table, not via sabotage or computer viruses.  No doubt, there are cheers at the CIA, Mossad and in the lairs of the MEK.  They consider this a great victory (many of them don’t want to bomb Iran either).  But it isn’t.  It’s merely one battle in a war that they can’t win using the means they’ve adopted. This means that the U.S. has joined the Mossad and MEK in using tactics that would be considered terrorism were they used against us.  This isn’t surprising considering the Obama administration’s embraced of targeted killings and drone strikes.  Nor is it surprising considering Obama’s pursuit of whistleblowers who attempt to expose our use of such tactics including torture.

I come to the reluctant conclusion that the U.S., like Israel, is a state that uses terror when it suits.  Unlike Israel, Obama has all manner of justifications and obfuscations to explain away what it’s doing.  The prevailing notion is we’re not doing what you think we’re doing.  What we’re doing is constitutional and conforms with international law.  John Brennan, Obama’s nominee for the next CIA director, looks a Congressional committee straight in the eye and tells them he’s righteous and dares them to say otherwise.

15-6

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

A man wipes his eyes from tear gas along a road littered with stones and tear gas canisters after clashes between riot police and protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, on Qasr el-Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square, in Cairo January 30, 2013. Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany on Wednesday to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, leaving behind a country in crisis after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 people. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Over 30 people were killed and more than 300 were injured in rioting in the coastal city of Port Said on Saturday after a Cairo court sentenced 21 people to death for their role in a deadly soccer riot last February. This dovetailed with anti-government riots in cities all over Egypt. Soccer fans of the Egyptian soccer club Al-Ahly celebrated after a court sentenced 21 people to death in clashes last year that killed 74 Al-Ahly fans.

In Port Said, hundreds of relatives and friends of the convicted defendants tried to breach prison walls to spring the convicts from jail. The 21 people sentenced to death on Saturday were among 73 defendants, including several police officers, accused of participating in one of the world’s deadliest soccer riots. Rulings for the rest of the defendants will be read on March 9th. The verdict for the 21 announced Saturday isn’t final—the defendants are almost certain to appeal and the head of Al Azhar, a government-managed Islamic university, must first accept or reject the capital sentences. The head of Al Azhar has historically served a rubber-stamp religious role, and he is likely to approve the judge’s decision.

Egyptian soccer hooligans, known locally as Ultras, have been demonstrating in Cairo for the past week in anticipation of the court verdict over the alleged murder of 74 soccer fans during a stadium riot last February. Ultras backing the Port Said-based Al Masry team rushed the pitch following their win over the Cairo-based Al Ahly team. The ensuing melee saw dozens of Al Ahly fans suffocate while trying to leave the stadium. Others were tossed from the bleachers or slashed with knives.

Ultras supporting Al Ahly dubbed the incident a massacre and blamed Egypt’s police for the deaths. The soccer fans accused the ministry of interior of doing little to stop the violence as part of a decade-long vendetta between soccer hooligans and the police. Others accused the police of deliberately orchestrating the attack. “They are to blame for derelection of duty and the murders happened under their watch,” said Mahmoud Adel, a member of the Al Ahly fan club committee who was at the game last year. Mr. Adel said thousands of Al Ahly fans erupted into cheers and applause at the Al Ahly club in Cairo when the decision was read. “It’s a strong verdict, but what happened deserves an even stronger verdict,” he said.

The court’s ruling in the Port Said case came a day after protesters descended on city squares across Egypt on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year autocracy and to press their demands against Egypt’s Islamist leadership. The Muslim Brotherhood and its conservative Islamist allies have dominated every national vote since Mr. Mubarak stepped down. In statements this week, the Brotherhood championed Egypt’s “glorious revolution” but warned of the “evil forces of darkness [who] desperately endeavor to spoil the celebration [by] spreading chaos and terror across the country.”

In a statement on his official Twitter account, Mr. Morsi expressed his sympathy for the deaths of protesters and police officers in Suez and vowed to pursue those responsible. In Egypt’s capital, marchers converged Friday from across the city onto Tahrir Square, the nerve center of the 2011 revolution. Demonstrators chanted anti-Islamist slogans. “This is not a memory or a memorial,” said Sayyid Gouda, a 36-year-old accountant who was wearing a gas mask around his neck as he gazed out on the crowds on the square. “This is a new wave of the revolution to restore our country.” In condemning the Muslim Brotherhood, which exercises expansive control over Egypt’s government, Mr. Gouda stated, “President Morsi and his Brotherhood backers are “fascists” who should be imprisoned for trying to take over Egypt and turn it into an Islamist state.”

The violence was still boiling over in cities across the country. Egypt’s state news agency reported hundreds of unknown assailants attacking government facilities and Brotherhood offices. In the coastal city of Suez, rioters stormed and looted a police station and shops and attacked a police administration building.

The protests also marked the first major appearance of a new group of masked protesters calling themselves the “Black Block,” after a protest strategy historically associated with the violent European anarchist movement. Sporting black clothing and concealing black face-masks, members of the group were responsible for blocking a tramway in the coastal city of Alexandria to make way for protesters and clashed with police in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, state media said.

15-6

By Ilyas Choudry, TMO

A few success stories from Asian immigrant communities, like “Holiday Inn Express Downtown of Shan Siddiqui Sahab” and “Kim Son Restaurant”, funded by the Houston Business Development Inc. (HBDi), still this City of Houston (COH) entity HBDi has been unknown to the Pakistani and other Asian communities.

The Board of HBDi is appointed by the Honorable Mayor of Houston, and during this tenure, Mayor Annise Parker has appointed Tasleem Siddiqui (President of Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston – PAAGH) and Chad Khan to the Board of HBDi, with Mr. Khan being the Vice President.

Through the efforts of PAAGH Office Bearers and volunteers, including President Tasleem Siddqui, this year, Mohammad Atiq Ahmed, Chad Khan, Farah Iqbal, Zaki Mirza, and Mian Mohammad Nazir brought an excellent informative Seminar “Small Business Owners and Aspiring Entrepreneurs” at Pakistan Center this past week.

Despite bad weather, more than 120 persons attended the event, and benefited much with the nice information & innovative manners of funding businesses. Pooja Lodhia of KTRK TV was Emcee at the Seminar.

A five member panel informed about the various sources and resources; and participants learned about the different ingredients needed for a successful business, like writing good business plan, knowing various loan products to establish & enhance ventures, bonding issues, etc.

Panelists included President of HBDi Marlon Mitchell, Senior Vice President Nasr Khan of Wallis State Bank, Vice President Jevaughn Sterling of Amegy Bank, Senior Vice President John Song of Golden Bank, and Deputy District Director Mark Winchester of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Houston.

Houston Business Development, Inc. (HBDi) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation established in 1986 by the City of Houston. The corporation’s mission is to stimulate economic growth, support the expansion of small businesses, community revitalization, and foster employment opportunities for low-moderate income citizens in the Houston metropolitan area and surrounding counties.

For any aspiring entrepreneurs and established business persons, Palm Center located at 5330 Griggs Road, Houston, Texas 77021; is the place to visit. HBDi offices are located here with other relevant resourceful offices & entities, at the 160,000 square-feet mixed-use commerce complex called Palm Center – Business Technology Center, in SouthEast Houston.

Palm Center has everything present for a successful business; and through this, HBDi accomplishes its mission through providing affordable, flexible small business loans and an array of business support services designed to enhance the growth of small businesses.

As a non-bank, community lending organization, HBDi has served as a catalyst in providing aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners with debt capital and access to an array of resources to start and/or expand their businesses. Since inception, the corporation has participated in funding approximately $82 million in small business loans in Houston, resulting in nearly 2,500 jobs being created for low-moderate income citizens.

For more information, it is crucial to visit the Palm Center at 5330 Griggs Road, Houston, Texas 77021. Once can also visit www.HBDInc.Org or call 1-713-845-2400. Board members of HBDi can be called: Tasleem Siddiqui 1-281-236-7597; and Chad Khan 1-281-866-7000.

15-6

By Adil James, TMO

The Arab American Museum hosted its long and carefully planned film festival this past weekend in its intimate theater.

About 320 people in total attended the event, which in fact is a large number of people to actually sit through several movies.

David Serio, who managed the film festival, explained that there was “great attendance,” with positive feedback about the films.

“I talked to a lot of people about the films,” and their enthusiasm led many to ask when the next film festival would be.

Thursday, numerically, was the largest success, although the museum had expected Friday and Saturday to be bigger.  There were 110 people on Thursday.  Friday the snow storm had an impact on attendance, which still reached about 65 people.

The movie Habibi Rasak Kharban (a modern reinterpretation of Layla and Majnun) was a love story based in the West Bank and Gaza–two people who couldn’t express their love, through complications of time and problems. This movie was very powerful.

This was a very successful effort by the museum–they earned roughly $2,500 from ticket sales (likely much less than their cost to show the movies) but yet they provided a service to the Arab community by showcasing powerful and well-made movies from around the Arab world.

“Maybe next year we’ll have more up and coming Arab American stars.”

15-6

By Karin Friedemann, TMO

In his book, “The Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham: Islam and the Future of Money,” Imran Hosein makes a compelling argument in favor of returning to the Gold Standard, a concern shared by many non-Muslim economists.

Avik Roy writes in the National Review, “Investors see over and over again the pattern by which governments depart from hard-money policies (such as the gold standard) in order to engage in deficit spending, and then devalue their currencies in order to reduce the value of the debts they then incur. It is a story that all too frequently ends in credit default and economic collapse.”
Hosein similarly promotes the minting of Islamic gold dinars in order to produce what he calls a riba-free economy. Since paper money is subject to inflation and devaluing currency, a debt-based society must indulge in charging or paying interest, which is against Islam, and often results in financial slavery. Islamic law requires that debts be paid with items that have intrinsic value, such as dates or precious metals.

Such views are viewed as threatening to the money lenders. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) prohibits gold-backed currencies for its member states. Thus, those who promote gold-backed money are often thought of as economic terrorists.

Nevertheless, as the dollar continues to decrease in value, demand for gold has increased. Many countries have started minting Islamic coins, which have become very popular for trading as currency. Today, a gold dinar sells for $250 while a silver dirham is worth $6.53. Even in places like Norwich, England you can purchase a haircut or lunch using these Islamic coins, as a result of local community organizing.

Large banks and nations still use gold to settle their debts. The gold is (or was) stored at the Federal Reserve Gold Depository in New York City, or the similar institutions at the Bank of England and Bank of France. In 2009, an international scandal erupted when a German gold bullion dealer discovered that a gold bar was fake.

What Really Happened reports in “Robbing Mali to Pay Germany” that: “Because many of the fake gold bars had the marking of US sources, nations began to ask for audits and tests of the gold bullion held in their name by the New York Federal Reserve. To the surprise of many, the New York Federal Reserve refused! Indeed the New York Federal Reserve refused the German government permission to simply look at their bullion!”

The German government has now demanded that their physical gold be repatriated back to Germany from both the Bank of France and the New York Federal Reserve. Switzerland also intends to repatriate all of their gold held by the New York Federal Reserve and other central banks.

“Both the Bank of France and the New York Federal Reserve have stated that the process of returning the gold will take years… The delay makes the situation clear. Neither the Bank of France nor the New York Federal Reserve actually have the gold Germany deposited.”

Mali is one of the world’s largest gold producers. Together with neighboring Ghana they account for 7-8% of world gold output. As Germany started demanding their gold back from the Bank of France and the New York Federal Reserve, France (aided by the US) decided to invade Mali to fight “Islamists” working for “Al Qaeda.”

Why are France and the US bombing Mali instead of just buying the gold they need? The problem is, China is able to outbid France and the US. Like the US and French interference in Sudan, this war is being waged to prevent China from investing in African minerals. Gold mining has also led to political unrest in the Congo. No doubt the Islamist struggle for Mali is deeply connected to the nation’s quest for self-determination, including the right to mine and sell gold in a way that benefits the people of Mali.

Even in the absence of war, gold mining is hard and dangerous work that comes with huge ethical considerations brought to light by environmentalists and fair labor activists. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated last year that the cost of cleaning up metal mines in the US alone could reach $54 billion. Major jewelry companies have come under pressure to show a traceable supply chain for their gold. JCK magazine reports:

“The No Dirty Gold campaign calls gold mining one of the “world’s dirtiest industries,” claiming that one ring’s worth of gold production creates 20 tons of mine waste. The mining industry disputes that characterization and that figure, but no one doubts that gold mining—particularly its use of cyanide—affects the environment… Dirty gold mining has also brought health concerns and land disputes to communities surrounding the mines.”

“Typically, men live in gold mining camps for a month or two at a time, working 12-hour days, seven days a week. At the end of a 6- to 8-week shift, the men rotate out of camp to their homes for two weeks of rest. These long periods away from families have led to the rise of commercial sex workers in small villages near the mining areas. HIV infections are then spread into the general population when miners infect their spouses and unborn children. High rates of HIV infection have been recorded in every gold mining country, especially South Africa where some mines have reported one in three miners infected.”

As Muslims press forward, advancing the use of gold currency as halal money, we will need to balance our enthusiasm with concern for ethical investments that do not harm the environment or exploit workers. We must also become alert about the question of whether the gold we buy was stolen through war or if it was acquired in a fair manner.
“O ye who believe! Do not appropriate each others’ property and wealth in a manner that is unjust and unfair: Rather, let business be transacted in a manner that brings mutual satisfaction.” (Quran 4:29)

15-6

By Susan Schwartz, TMO

The Free Gaza Board through one of its members, attorney Audrey Bomse, has announced the launch of Palestine Solidarity Legal Support. This is a support system that Palestinian activists may access to insure they enjoy unimpeded full exercise of their First Amendment rights.

Various groups have encountered  impediments to their exercise of free speech in support of the rights of the Palestinian people. To cite but a few instances: the need for legal advise by BDS (boycott, disinvestment, sanctions) activists; pro Palestine groups on campuses that believe they are not accorded treatment equal to other groups on campus, and Palestinian activist groups that feel the relevant authorities are attempting to mitigate or threaten their existence.

Palestine Solidarity Legal Support is prepared to provide legal advice, advocacy support and stands ready to receive reports of repression.

The Center for Constitutional Rights acting with the National Lawyers  Guild, and the Student Speech Working Group are the driving forces behind this effort.

With both government agencies and private well funded organizations attempting to interdict the work of Palestinian activists, this organization fills a void and is being welcomed by peace and human rights activists.

For more details, please contact the following web sire: <palestinelegalsupport.org>.

Greta Berlin and Mary Hughes Thompson, co founders of the Free Gaza Movement and passengers on the first boat to break the naval blockade of Gaza in the late summer of 2008, will speak in Carlsbad, Ca. on February 10th. AL-AWDA, the Palestine Right of Return organization, will sponsor them at their headquarters located at 2720 Loker Avenue West, Suite J at 5:00pm.

Ms Berlin and Ms Thompson will discuss an epic book, Freedom Sailors, that details the adventure of the 44 passengers on two ships that sailed from Cyprus to Gaza and into history. Discouraged by even their fellow freedom fighters, plagued by delays, threatened by the Israelis, rough waters, sea sickness and the inevitable quarrels that will take place when people are in close quarters, the brave freedom sailors finally saw the shores of Gaza and thee thousands who had waited endless hours to cheer their arrival.

Ms Berlin and Dr. Bill Dienst, also a freedom sailor,  are co authors of the book which is a compilation written by the participants.

The short time they spent in Gaza before their return is also chronicled. The problems they had been told about appeared even more critical with first hand observations.
For those who support the fight of the Palestinian people for freedom, the book is an essential first hand history.

15-6

By Nafeesa Syeed

Unlike most little girls, Dana Al Taji didn’t want to buy new dresses for her Barbie dolls. Instead, Al Taji would eagerly await her mother’s return from visits with the tailor, snatching scraps of fabric. From that cast-off material, she created sundry outfits and ensembles for her dolls.

This passion matured into the keen interest she expressed in her own clothing and later a fashion design course she took at a university. But when she made the choice to wear the full-covering abaya (a draping dress that encloses the body, which is paired with a matching headscarf) full-time, she hit a snag: “I couldn’t find something that suited my taste,” she says. “So, I wanted to fill that gap where young people that have style wanted to wear something that wasn’t totally off of the fashion industry right now, what is trendy and what is stylish, and at the same time it was modest and nice.”

Al Taji, who fled with her Palestinian family from Kuwait by car amidst the first Gulf War, founded the Layal line of both couture and affordable abayas, all designed by the precocious doll-dresser. Al Taji first earned a degree in political economy and spent some time as a teacher, her mother’s occupation. She then decided to stay at home with her first child, enrolling in fashion and tailoring courses. Starting just a few years ago out of her home, the 29-year-old mother of two now owns a boutique in Cairo, employing retail staff and tailors, and also supplies her products to other shops.
She considers practicality in her garb, as seen in her nursing and pregnancy abayas, as well as high fashion, as exhibited in her eveningwear offerings. In her mind, Al Taji perceives the abaya as a versatile form and her designs, in particular, as fresh for the Egyptian market and unique from what’s available in abaya-producing hubs such as the Gulf. She says many of her peers have similarly taken the initiative to start their own small enterprises, learning to be managers and risk-takers in the process.

For her, abayas are more convenient than wearing skirts, which she calls confining. “I can wear pants under and feel free,” she says. When she decided to go with the abaya, she searched around Egypt but didn’t like what she found. She says they didn’t mix colors or fabrics nor had A-line cuts, and instead focused on beading or had slits on the sides with trousers that matched. And generally, the aesthetic associated with abayas here were for middle-aged woman, not those fitting say the younger, fashionable demographic of Al Taji’s milieu.

Tailored to taste

She obtained her first abayas from Saudi Arabia that she describes as more colorful. When people traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), she also requested they bring some abayas back for her. “But then again, I’m very picky, so people get me stuff and they’re not really my taste,” she says. “I went to a few tailors to do my own thing and I started creating my own abayas and then I thought of the business because also my friends were complaining [of] the same problem.”

She began to make prototypes and displayed them at her house. She took buyers’ measurements and then partnered with a tailor to stitch the abayas. She continued with the custom abaya-making for about three years, and then began to provide some of her wares at her friends’ stores. In the meantime, she created a Facebook page with images of the abayas.
Some of her friends were concerned about having a photo shoot with a woman modeling the outfits, but Al Taji thought that as long as the model is covered in an abaya, there’s no issue. On her Facebook page, which has almost 6,000 “likes,” she posts quotes from fashion greats such as Coco Chanel, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. To become known, she placed advertisements on Facebook, in local publications and in the streets. “It was my friends and then word of mouth made the ripple effect,” of her growing recognition, she says.

Sales went well at her friends’ stores and she expanded her manufacturing. That success pointed her in the direction of trying it on her own. Her husband, she says, also greatly encouraged her to grow the business. “It’s a point in time — you need to go to the next step. And you need to develop yourself and you need to go out there to other people who haven’t discovered you; I mean away from your circle of friends,” Al Taji says.

She worked with an interior designer to create the elegant ambience of her store, where racks are lined against the wall with her creations and a contemporary chandelier hangs at the center. She spent money generated from her earlier sales along with some help from her family. There are two women who staff the store, which is open seven days a week, and a handful of tailors who collaborate with her.

Just five days after opening the shop, however, Al Taji says Egypt’s 2011 revolution broke out. Reports of vandalism and looting made her wary, so she closed the store, sent her workers home and cleared out all the merchandise. “I was worried sick,” she says. Afterward, there was a curious uptick in purchases. “The best sales we got were when [former President Hosni] Mubarak was removed on [February] the 11th. People started buying,” she says. She jokes that it was retail therapy. “I think it’s all psychological, because when you’re happy, you tend to be in the mood for buying.” Having weathered difficulties with her business in the country’s new era, “I keep praying that Egypt would always stay safe and worry-free.”

Chic and devotional

With the recitation of the Quran playing in the background of her shop, Al Taji, who also dons a face-veil, surveys her designs. There’s the nursing abaya that comes with a zipper. The maternity look with gathers above the waist. The designer rack features a Burberry-cuffed abaya. Others range from those with a belt featuring an oversized buckle; another Victorian-inspired design with ruffles; one trimmed with a checkered, multicolored pattern; and fancier formal wear studded with Swarovski crystals. A “sporty” abaya with an exposed pocket has been popular with those going on pilgrimage for hajj or umrah. There are bargain abayas for 220 EGP (US$33). And then what she calls the “plain section” of solitary black robes.

There are also shelves of handbags and jewelry and other accessories. One of Al Taji’s subtle creations gracefully flows down her tall frame, with puffed sleeves spruced with a dark blue velvet pattern extending from the elbow to wrist, matching her slippers adorned with a similar blue design. (In her own closet, she estimates she has some 50 abayas.) She consults magazines to view what’s in style and considers what colors she can integrate into the abaya. And when she’s out shopping, she observes how clothes are tailored and what new prints, be it stripes or polka dots, could be embraced. At home, she has drawing boards and “bags and bags and bags of fabric” with which she experiments. “Basically whatever inspires me, I just go around and draw it,” she says.

As long as the main idea of the medium is maintained, namely a wide and loose garment that is not see-through, “Why not play around with it?” she asks. Al Taji says her designs “modernize” the abaya. And as someone who wears it regularly, she has an intimate understanding of what works. (She says French designers tried to conjure an abaya, but it was too foreign from their point of reference.) Though, she admits it’s a trial-and-error process. “I always think of it as, ‘If I can wear it, then people can wear it,’” she says.

That consideration of practicality, she says, differs in orientation from abaya fashion in Dubai, which she says is usually slanted to more glamorous output. In addition, her cuts fit more varied body types. “In Egypt, they like it to be practical. She can wear it going to pick up her kids from school or she can wear it going to work,” she says. There’s also a class factor in the Egyptian context that she’s trying to rectify. The drab abaya is traditionally associated with lower socioeconomic classes, but women from more privileged backgrounds have adopted the dress. “For the upper class it’s considered, like, totally off,’” she says, “I try to change that.” At the same time, her inventory includes moderately priced, but quality and appealing abayas, reflecting her desire to elevate perceptions around the covering.

Running with the tagline “Cover up in style,” Layal customers range in age from about 18 to 45, according to Al Taji, and some have remained faithful to her over the years. Most are from Egypt, though some living in the Emirates and Saudi have bought from her. They include the daily abaya-wearers and those who need it for one-time use or because they’re moving to Saudi or someplace where the abaya is the norm. It’s rewarding for her when women are motivated to wear the abaya every day after discovering there are chic options, and they see that it doesn’t have to be a bland state of being. “I find a lot of people coming in and they’re like, ‘Oh, God bless you. You’re doing a lovely thing. We started wearing abayas because of you. You’ve encouraged us a lot,’” she says. That’s the kind of reaction she gets more than say those who might see her designs as being flashy and contrary to the idea of concealing one’s body.

Countering stereotypes

In a way, she views her work as countering societal stereotypes and enabling women to live out their choice. “It’s important because it’s an image, I think. And when looking at a woman trying to be modest, trying to follow the Islamic rules in a certain way that she sees correct, sometimes people look down at her, ‘Oh, you’re wearing the same thing every single day. Don’t you feel bored? Why are you so oppressed? There are so many different things you can do with your life,’” Al Taji says. “I think I’m giving her a chance to look through her wardrobe and see things that are stylish, that go with the trends out there. She doesn’t need to feel any less than any woman wearing anything out there. And she has to feel presentable. You are presenting, you’re representing your religion. You chose to dress in a certain way, so let it be nice and trendy and clean and appeal to other people.”

As a business owner, Al Taji is preoccupied with her increasing responsibilities, including paying rent and suppliers, training her employees and giving them incentives, monitoring which designs do well and gathering feedback from consumers. From her father, who drove the family from Kuwait to Egypt in 1990, she says she learned about being prompt and fair. “He used to tell us that you need to give people’s rights before you do anything,” she says.

For now, any profit is reinvested into the business. She continues to buy material herself and work directly with her producers and develop her product line. Others have gotten into the ring, and she faces competition from additional local abaya-makers. Her husband and brother are pushing her to have an official website. Concurrently, her aim to grow as a designer tugs at her and she is taking more fashion design courses and continues to release new collections each season. Her dream, she says, would be to participate in the Dubai Fashion Week’s abaya show. “You have to have an edge. You have to play around with fabrics. You have to come around with new ideas all the time, not stay, like, with your old stuff. And you need to always see what people need,” Al Taji says.

From the shop, she jumps into her sports utility vehicle, dodging through Cairo’s dicey traffic, en route to pick up her daughter from nursery school. Al Taji says her priority has been to her children and home, which made her reluctant at first to move into business, but she now navigates the sea of duties. It’s important for a woman not to lose herself, she says. She mentions how so many of her friends have started small-scale business ventures, from baking to clothes. All of which, she asserts, makes her proud.

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By Edmund Blair and Alexandra Hudson

CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities scaled back a curfew imposed by President Mohamed Mursi, and the Islamist leader cut short a visit to Europe on Wednesday to deal with the deadliest violence in the seven months since he took power.

Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo’s central Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the army chief warned that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi’s opponents and supporters did not end street battles.

More than 50 people have been killed in the past seven days of protests by Mursi’s opponents marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Mursi imposed a curfew and a state of emergency on three Suez Canal cities on Sunday – Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. That only seemed to further provoke crowds. However, violence has mainly subsided in those towns since Tuesday.

Local authorities pushed back the start of the curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. in Ismailia and to 1:00 a.m. in Port Said and Suez.

“There has been progress in the security situation since Monday. Calm has returned,” Suez Governor Samir Aglan said.

Mursi, speaking in Berlin before hurrying home to deal with the crisis, called for dialogue with opponents but would not commit to their demand that he first agree to include them in a unity government.

He sidestepped a question about a possible unity government, saying the next cabinet would be formed after parliamentary elections in April.

Egypt was on its way to becoming “a civilian state that is not a military state or a theocratic state”, Mursi said.

The violence at home forced Mursi to scale back his European visit, billed as a chance to promote Egypt as a destination for foreign investment. He flew to Berlin but called off a trip to Paris and was due back home after only a few hours in Europe.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met him, echoed other Western leaders who have called on him to give his opponents a voice.

“One thing that is important for us is that the line for dialogue is always open to all political forces in Egypt, that the different political forces can make their contribution, that human rights are adhered to in Egypt and that of course religious freedom can be experienced,” she said at a joint news conference with Mursi.

SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION

Mursi’s critics accuse him of betraying the spirit of the revolution by keeping too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement banned under Mubarak which won repeated elections since the 2011 uprising.

Mursi’s supporters say the protesters want to overthrow Egypt’s first democratically elected leader. The current unrest has deepened an economic crisis that saw the pound currency tumble in recent weeks.

Near Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters threw stones at police who fired back teargas, although the scuffles were brief.

“Our demand is simply that Mursi goes, and leaves the country alone. He is just like Mubarak and his crowd who are now in prison,” said Ahmed Mustafa, 28, a youth who had goggles on his head to protect his eyes from teargas.

Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei called for a meeting of the president, ministers, the ruling party and the opposition to halt the violence. But he also restated the precondition that Mursi first commit to seeking a national unity government.

The worst violence has been in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, where rage was fuelled by death sentences passed against soccer fans for roles in deadly riots last year.

After decades in which the West backed Mubarak’s military rule of Egypt, the emergence of an elected Islamist leader in Cairo is probably the single most important change brought about by the wave of Arab revolts over the past two years.

Mursi won backing from the West last year for his role in helping to establish a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians that ended a conflict in Gaza. But he then followed that with an effort to fast-track a constitution that reignited dissent at home and raised global concern over Egypt’s future.

Western countries were alarmed this month by video that emerged showing Mursi making vitriolic remarks against Jews and Zionists in 2010 when he was a senior Brotherhood official.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said ahead of Mursi’s visit that the remarks, in which Mursi referred to Zionists as “descendants of apes and pigs” were “unacceptable”.

“NOT AGAINST JEWS”

Asked about those remarks at the news conference with Merkel, Mursi repeated earlier explanations that they had been taken out of context.

“I am not against the Jewish faith,” he said. “I was talking about the practices and behavior of believers of any religion who shed blood or who attack innocent people or civilians. That’s behavior that I condemn.”

“I am a Muslim. I’m a believer and my religion obliges me to believe in all prophets, to respect all religions and to respect the right of people to their own faith,” he added.

Egypt’s main liberal and secularist bloc, the National Salvation Front, has so far refused talks with Mursi unless he promises a unity government including opposition figures.

“Stopping the violence is the priority, and starting a serious dialogue requires committing to guarantees demanded by the National Salvation Front, at the forefront of which are a national salvation government and a committee to amend the constitution,” ElBaradei said on Twitter.

Those calls have also been backed by the hardline Islamist Nour party – rivals of Mursi’s Brotherhood. Nour and the Front were due to meet on Wednesday, signaling an unlikely alliance of Mursi’s critics from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy dismissed the unity government proposal as a ploy for the Front to take power despite having lost elections. On his Facebook page he ridiculed “the leaders of the Salvation Front, who seem to know more about the people’s interests than the people themselves”.

In a sign of the toll the unrest is having on Egypt’s economy, ratings agency Fitch downgraded its sovereign rating by one notch to B on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad in Cairo, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia and Stephen Brown and Gernot Heller in Berlin; Writing by Peter Graff)

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