Egyptian director Jehane Noujaim poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California 12/17/13. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Three years after Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim waded into Cairo’s Tahrir Square to document the early rumblings of revolution, the army governs Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is back underground and protesters are on trial.
But as her award-winning film “The Square†makes its debut to a wide audience next week via streaming company Netflix’s 40 million subscribers, Noujaim believes Egypt is definitely not back at square one, although it is a dark time in the country.
“Everyone feels like this was an incredibly important process that needed to happen and we will never go back to where we were three years ago,†Noujaim told Reuters.
“The whole country,†she added, “has gotten a political education.â€
For the viewer, “The Square†may be like a crash course in understanding Egypt today, taught by protesters who first started gathering in Tahrir Square in January 2011 to call for the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of rule.
For Noujaim, a 39-year-old who made the acclaimed 2004 documentary “Control Room†about broadcaster Al Jazeera, it was a lesson in patience and figuring out when to wrap the film. When she was at the Sundance Film Festival collecting the audience award for “The Square†a year ago, she already decided she had to go back to Egypt to keep filming.
The “work in progress†screened at Sundance covered the fall of Mubarak and ended with the election of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mursi as president in mid-2012. But then, activists returned to the streets at the beginning of 2013 and the military deposed Mursi in July.
“Mursi was using the tools of democracy to basically create another dictatorship, this time a dictatorship that relied on manipulating people through religion,†said Noujaim.
The turn of events, in her opinion, made the story she wanted to tell more interesting.
“It became about the fight against fascism, whether the face of that racism was Mubarak or the military or the Muslim Brotherhood,†she said.
‘OPERATING ON FUMES’
In that fight, Noujaim quickly found a cast of characters in Tahrir Square from diverse backgrounds that allowed her to build from the very beginning a character-driven narrative. She had, she said, “the film gods looking down upon us.â€
Three characters take center stage: Ahmed Hassan, a working class man in his mid-20s, street smart but struggling to get a job; Khalid Abdalla, a British-Egyptian actor in his mid-30s who starred in “The Kite Runner†and who forms a bridge between activists and the international media; and Magdy Ashour, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in his mid-40s tortured under Mubarak who goes through a crisis of faith about the revolution and the Brotherhood.
“When you are making these films, they are unfunded, we are basically operating on fumes, we are there following people for two to three years,†Noujaim said, adding “so you had better be sharing people who are worth sharing with the world.â€
Noujaim, who grew up 10 minutes from Tahrir Square, also assembled her crew at the square, knowing that she couldn’t hire people from outside and ask them to take the risks of filming in the middle of the revolution.
“Everybody on our film team was either chased down the street by police or army, or arrested or shot at one point or another,†she said.
Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan called the film “a compelling, inside look†and said “it wouldn’t exist except for the passion and determination of filmmaker Jehane Noujaim.â€
“The Square†won the top documentary prize at the Toronto Film Festival in September, best feature from the International Documentary Association last month and is one of 15 documentary features shortlisted for an Oscar ahead of January 16 nominations.
Perhaps most importantly, it was the first major documentary acquired by Netflix as part of its strategy to build up original programming. Noujaim said Netflix was the best choice to reach a wide and diverse audience because its streaming subscription costs $8 a month.
Netflix begins streaming the documentary in all its territories on January 17 and has agreed to allow the film to have theatrical release in eight to 10 U.S. cities. It will also be distributed in countries where Netflix does not operate.
Meanwhile, there is one key place where it cannot yet be screened: Egypt.
The film was submitted to state censors and Noujaim is awaiting clearance nearly three months later. Knowing what is at stake, she speaks carefully about the current state of affairs in Egypt, where new presidential elections could happen as soon as April.
“It’s the most important thing for us and our whole team of Egyptian filmmakers that this film is shown in Egypt,†Noujaim said. “So we are going to do everything in our power to make that happen.â€
An African migrant takes part in a protest opposite the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem January 8, 2014. Over ten thousand migrants gathered on Wednesday for a fourth day of protests against Israel’s detention policy toward migrants it sees as illegal job-seekers. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – More than 10,000 African migrants demonstrated outside Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, extending protests into a fourth consecutive day in a quest for recognition as refugees and freedom to work legally without fear of incarceration.
Their presence in a Jewish state that took in survivors of the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two has stoked an emotional political debate over whether they should be allowed to stay as a humane gesture.
“I want to say to them that they should not fear us, we are human beings too,†a tall, slim 25-year-old man from Eritrea, who gave his name only as Mulugieta, told Reuters.
Some 60,000 migrants, largely from Eritrea and Sudan, have entered Israel without authorization across a once-porous border with Egypt since 2006. Many hope for asylum and say they cannot return home without risking their lives.
Israel says most are illegal job-seekers. It passed a law three weeks ago allowing for indefinite detention of migrants without valid visas while it pursues efforts to persuade them to leave or enlist other countries to take them in.
Mulugieta said he fled Eritrea six years ago, fearing that his criticism of its rulers had put him in danger.
“We asked for shelter, we do not deserve jail,†read one of many large banners in a park opposite the Israeli Knesset as the crowd demonstrated against Israel’s refusal to grant them refugee status.
“Being black is not a crime,†another sign said.
Many of the migrants live in impoverished neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial centre, and work as cleaners and dish-washers. They have gone on strike at restaurants as part of a protest campaign that included a large demonstration in the Mediterranean seaside city on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week he views the African influx – since stemmed by an Israeli fence along the Egyptian frontier – as a threat to Israel’s Jewish social fabric.
Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, said it was time to send the migrants, whom she dubbed “infiltratorsâ€, away.
“Stop being bleeding-hearts,†Regev said on Israel Radio, referring to Israeli activists seeking to help the Africans.
FOUR DAYS OF PROTESTS
It was the fourth straight day of protests by the migrants, who on Monday marched to foreign embassies in Tel Aviv to appeal for international intervention.
Protester Mulugieta said: “Everyone has come across the border, we escaped the war but they fear us (here) … we are not the enemy of the Israeli public.†Dozens of migrants have been summoned for detention at a specially-built centre in Israel’s Negev desert, where they are allowed to leave for brief periods during the day but must return at nightfall, activists said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said Israel’s detention policy towards the migrants caused “hardship and suffering†and was not in line with a 1951 world treaty on the treatment of refugees.
Outside parliament, several left-wing legislators addressed the crowd. Erel Margalit of the opposition Labour Party apologized to the protesters after Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein refused to allow a delegation in to meet lawmakers.
David Grossman, a writer identified with the Israeli left-wing, told the protesters that the Jewish state’s treatment of the migrants was shameful.
“I look at you now … I feel embarrassed and ashamed,†Grossman said in English. “Israel has not created this problem, but there is a problem now (and) we have to struggle with it and to solve it in the most humane way.â€
Part 1–AFMI’s convention draws cream of Indian students to Guwahati
By Nurul Islam Laskar
Dignitaries formally releasing the career guidance book by Prof MA Hussain at the AFMI Convention in Guwahati on Sunday.
Over 70 rank holder students from the Muslim community cutting across the country, from Jammu & Kashmir to Kerala and from Gujarat to Nagaland, received their gold, silver and bronze medals at the jam packed AFMI 22nd International Convention on Education & Gala Award Ceremony held at Pragjyoti ITA Centre Auditorium in the city on Saturday. There were an overwhelming number of girl students among the medal winners which signalled the urge for education among Muslim girls of today.
The Convention began with a recitation from the Holy Quran followed by welcome address delivered by the Convention Chairman, Sirajuddin Ajmal. It may be mentioned here that the Convention is being organised and hosted by two of Assam’s front ranking NGOs, Ajmal Foundation & Markazul Ma’arif.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr AR Nakadar (Detroit USA), Founding Trustee of AFMI. As far as education is concerned, he said, “We want to see Assam as the Number One state in India and for achieving this, AFMI will extend all cooperation and support to the Ajmal Group and other like-minded organisation working with the same objectives.â€
Dr Ayub Khan (Toronto Canada), President AFMI, gave an overview of AFMI’s various projects meant to benefit the student community of India. He said Assam was a bastion of knowledge in the past and would continue to be so in the future too. His appeal to the students was, “Be innovators, and not imitators.â€
AFMI also conferred the Sir Syed Award to Badruddin Ajmal MP & CEO of Ajmal CSR for his outstanding contribution to the cause of education in the North Eastern part of India. Noted Urdu poet MD Nawaz Khan Deobandi was conferred with the Mir Taqi Mir Award for his role in promotion of Urdu poetry beyond the frontiers of India.
Prof PK Abdul Azis, VC University of Science & Technology Meghalaya and former VC of Aligarh Muslim University exhorted the students to serve the country with zest and dedication on completion of their academic pursuits.
The chief guest of the event, Devanand Konwar, Governor of Tripura shared the experiences of his student days with the audience. He said real education is based on values and character and the students should not overlook these in their pursuit for material possessions. The inaugural session was followed by two academic sessions, one on ‘Motivation as a contributing factor in promoting excellence’ and another on ‘Enhancing learning & Leadership opportunities’ in which experts from India and abroad participated.
The concluding address was made by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal MP who expressed the hope that Mission Education would get a new momentum in the region with the hosting of the two-day AFMI Convention in Guwahati. He urged upon the new generation to preserve old values and develop a mindset to compete so that no one dared to call them ‘beggars for government favours.’
Union Minister for Minority Affairs, K Rahman Khan is expected to be present at the concluding day of the Convention on Sunday.
Some of the all India topper Muslim students who received medals at the Convention are seen with dignitaries on the dais in Guwahati on Saturday.
Dr Nawaz Khan Deobandi and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal acknowledging the public ovation after receiving awaards at the AFMI Convention on Saturday
Abdur rahman Ajmal MLA & Badaruddin Ajmal MP with AFMI President Ayub Khan & Founding Trustee Dr AR Nakadar.
Part 2–Union Minister Rahman Khan attends convention on education in Guwahati
By Nurul Islam Laskar
The two-day 22nd international convention on education as part of American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) several initiatives for the cause of education came to an end in Guwahati on Sunday. Speaking as the chief guest on the valedictory day, Dr K Rahman Khan, Union Minister for Minority Affairs said, “My appeal to the Muslims is that don’t always feel neglected and not taken care of. Find out what your own responsibility is and discharge it.†He lauded the initiative of the Ajmal Group in Assam in promoting education in the rural areas and expressed the hope that this would be replicated by others.
Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Minister for Education & Healthcare, was present as the guest of honour. He too emphasised the role of the civil society in creating awareness about the need for promoting education. For the Muslim concentration Dhubri District of Assam, he announced construction of 20 new hospitals and provision of at least 3 teachers in each primary school of the district before the end of the next year.
Dr Sarma formally unveiled a book on career guidance, authored by Prof MA Hussain and published by Ajmal Foundation. The book contains over 3,000 career options for the youth. The Minister presented one book each to the medal winning students who were present at the event.
Another distinguished guest, Dr Amarjyoti Choudhury, Pro Vice Chancellor, Tezpur University, highlighted the peaceful existence of various ethnic groups which was so evident when he was a child. He appealed for bringing back those golden days of Assam back again.
Badruddin Ajmal, MP reminded the participants that that they should understand the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet (s) to realise the high position Islam bestows on the woman.
Earlier in the day, a panel discussion on ‘Muslim education in the North East: Challenges & Opportunities’ was held in which the participants were Dr H Nagamia, Cardiologist (Tampa USA), Dr KM Baharul Islam (IIM Kashipur), Sayeedulla Nongrum, former Minister (Shillong, Meghalaya), Prof Abdul Mannan, Dept of Statistics (Gauhati University) and Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, former Principal, Karimganj College (Assam). The discussion was moderated by NI Laskar, Executive Editor, Easter Chronicle (Guwahati).
Another panel discussion on ‘Empowering women as key agents of change’ was also held in the backdrop of a packed audience. The discussion moderated by Shazia Kidwai (Dubai) was participated by Husena Poonawala (UK); Padmashri Patricia Mukhim, Chief Editor, The Shillong Times (Meghalaya); Teresa Rehman, Managing Editor, The Thumb Print (Guwahati); Dr Gayatree Goswamee, HoD, Dept of Education (Gauhati University); and Dr Mahfuza Rahman, HoD, Dept of Geography, Cotton College (Guwahati).
At the end of the Convention, Dr AR Nakadar announced that the 23rd National Convention of AFMI will take place at Kozhikode in Kerala in December 2014.
The resolutions adopted at the Guwahati Convention were read out jointly by Dr Ayub Khan and Md Burhan Uddin Qasimi, foremost among the resolutions being “every participant at the Convention would aim at and work for 100% literate India.â€
An experiment is an orderly procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, refuting, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results. A child may carry out basic experiments to understand the nature of gravity, while teams of scientists may take years of systematic investigation to advance the understanding of a phenomenon. Experiments can vary from personal and informal (e.g. tasting a range of chocolates to find a favorite), to highly controlled (e.g. tests requiring complex apparatus overseen by many scientists that hope to discover information about subatomic particles). Uses of experiments vary considerably between the natural and social sciences.
In the scientific method, an experiment is an empirical method that arbitrates between competing models or hypotheses. Experimentation is also used to test existing theories or new hypotheses in order to support them or disprove them.
An experiment usually tests a hypothesis, which is an expectation about how a particular process or phenomenon works. However, an experiment may also aim to answer a “what-if†question, without a specific expectation about what the experiment will reveal, or to confirm prior results. If an experiment is carefully conducted, the results usually either support or disprove the hypothesis. According to some Philosophies of science, an experiment can never “prove†a hypothesis, it can only add support. Similarly, an experiment that provides a counterexample can disprove a theory or hypothesis. An experiment must also control the possible confounding factors—any factors that would mar the accuracy or repeatability of the experiment or the ability to interpret the results. Confounding is commonly eliminated through scientific control and/or, in randomized experiments, through random assignment.
In engineering and other physical sciences, experiments are a primary component of the scientific method. They are used to test theories and hypotheses about how physical processes work under particular conditions (e.g., whether a particular engineering process can produce a desired chemical compound). Typically, experiments in these fields will focus on replication of identical procedures in hopes of producing identical results in each replication. Random assignment is uncommon.
In medicine and the social sciences, the prevalence of experimental research varies widely across disciplines. When used, however, experiments typically follow the form of the clinical trial, where experimental units (usually individual human beings) are randomly assigned to a treatment or control condition where one or more outcomes are assessed.[5] In contrast to norms in the physical sciences, the focus is typically on the average treatment effect (the difference in outcomes between the treatment and control groups) or another test statistic produced by the experiment.[6] A single study will typically not involve replications of the experiment, but separate studies may be aggregated through systematic review and meta-analysis.
Of course, these differences between experimental practice in each of the branches of science have exceptions. For example, agricultural research frequently uses randomized experiments (e.g., to test the comparative effectiveness of different fertilizers). Similarly, experimental economics often involves experimental tests of theorized human behaviors without relying on random assignment of individuals to treatment and control conditions.
(Reuters) – New Year’s Day will bring a fresh test for President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, as hundreds of thousands of Americans will begin to use the program’s new medical coverage for the first time.
For the nation’s healthcare system as well as its politics, the stakes are huge in Wednesday’s launch of the program known as Obamacare.
For anxious Democrats with an eye on the 2014 congressional elections, it is a chance for the Obama administration to rebound from the disastrous rollout of the website that enrolls people in private coverage through the program – and show that the White House’s effort to help millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans is finally gaining its footing.
Or, as Republican congressman Fred Upton and other critics of Obamacare warned in recent days, Wednesday could represent the beginning of another debacle that fuels Republicans’ push to make dissatisfaction with Obamacare the chief issue in the November elections.
More immediately, the question is whether the program will work as advertised on January 1, after a chaotic enrollment period in which problems with the HealthCare.gov website led to a series of deadline extensions and undermined public support for Obamacare and the president.
The White House said early Sunday that about 1.1 million people have enrolled in coverage plans through the federally run HealthCare.gov, which covers 36 states. That figure does not include the latest enrollment data from 14 states that run their own healthcare enrollment sites – including California, Connecticut, Kentucky, New York and Connecticut – and where response to Obamacare has been enthusiastic, so the total enrollment nationally is likely more than 1.5 million.
That is well short of the 3.3 million enrollees administration officials were hoping for by now, but it represents a dramatic improvement from a month ago, when barely 150,000 had signed up because of a series of technical problems with the HealthCare.gov site.
Many of the newly insured under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – about 975,000 on the federally run exchange – signed up just ahead of a deadline on December 24 to receive benefits on January 1, giving health insurers a tight framework to create accounts that can be accessed by doctors.
One fear, as expressed by administration officials and insurance industry executives, is that some people who need medical care during the first days of 2014 will head to the doctor, only to find there is no record of their new insurance.
That could mean patients would have to pay upfront and submit a bill to their insurance carriers later.
And even though the Obamacare program is not directly responsible for the private insurance purchased through its online exchanges, White House officials have acknowledged that any early problems with the coverage are likely to reflect on the administration.
Some insurance executives say that even a few stories of coverage problems during the next few weeks – which seems inevitable when dealing with such a massive program – could damage the reputations of the White House and the healthcare overhaul.
“The big moment of trust is 12:01 a.m. on January 1st, when a mother is standing in a pharmacy with a baby in her arms trying to get a script filled,†Aetna Inc Chief Executive Mark Bertolini said this month. “Getting that information right so that we don’t have these events which ultimately end up in our lap if we don’t do them well, it’s very important for us all to get it right.â€
A senior administration official acknowledged that “there will be bumps in the road.â€
“We need to plan for them, we need to anticipate and we need to make sure that we are ready to respond,†the official said.
Physicians say they are used to dealing with changes to patients’ insurance coverage and it is not unusual for there to be lag times between enrolling in a new insurance policy and the time it becomes official.
Some doctors will be willing to delay billing. Others may not be.
“Come the start of the year there will be dueling narratives: the people who have never had insurance before who are actually getting decent care for the first time in their lives, and people who are having issues with the administration’s new policies,†said Dan Mendelson, chief executive of Avalere Health, which has been tracking the healthcare overhaul.
“They are going to kind of cancel each other out,†he predicted. “Three months from now when we are in the electoral cycle, the policies will be judged on the basis of enrollment (numbers), rather than any technical problems.â€
Mendelson expects the early 2014 problems to be limited given the light pace of enrollment spread out across the nation, and the fact that hospitals and other providers are experienced in troubleshooting coverage questions for patients.
‘WE CONTINUE TO HOLD OUR BREATH’
Stories of patients with Obamacare plans who were turned away or asked to pay higher-than-expected medical fees upfront because of technical or administrative delays within the program would help the case of Republicans and other foes of the law.
During the past week, Republicans signaled that they will be closely watching what happens with Obamacare enrollees who seek medical care during the first several days of the new year.
“We continue to hold our breath with the next shoe to drop,†said Upton, a Michigan Republican who is leading a charge in the House of Representatives against Obamacare.
“When folks visit their doctor or take a child to get necessary treatment (this) week, will the services actually be available? The consequences of the administration’s incompetence could not be greater,†Upton said.
Some Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, see the start of Obamacare coverage on January 1 as a turning point for the program that will work in Democrats’ favor and reverse polling trends against Obama and his party.
“By the time we get into the spring, I think the Affordable Care Act will either be a (political) wash or a plus for Democrats,†Pelosi told reporters last week.
As many as 7 million people had been expected to sign up for Obamacare coverage when the 2014 enrollment period ends on March 31, but that estimate has been thrown into doubt because of the program’s error-plagued rollout.
GETTING IT RIGHT
The Obama administration and several of the state-run exchanges have urged consumers to call up their new insurance plans to make sure they are covered.
The administration and several states have offered their call-center personnel to assist in cases in which there are problems with enrollments.
Late last week, the U.S. government indicated that it was ready to respond to any stories of distressed patients who emerge beginning this week.
The administration said it has set up contacts at all of the health plans working in the federal marketplace to “have a mechanism to address the issue (and) … make sure that it can be resolved as quickly as possible.â€
Doctor groups said they were confident their current systems for handling patients who need help clarifying insurance coverage would make sure people receive needed care.
“Whenever a patient changes an insurance company or plan there is a period of adjustment,†said Dr Richard Schilsky, chief medical officer with the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
While there may be a period of limbo for some people between signing up and the insurance taking effect, unless there is a medical emergency, patients probably will be able to wait a week or so to see a doctor, Schilsky said.
“If someone needs care, they will get it,†he said.
Dr Charles Cutler, chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians, said many fellow experts in internal medicine who treat people for chronic disease would not be concerned if it took several weeks to get insurance information for a patient.
“In my practice we assume people are honest,†said Cutler, whose practice is in suburban Philadelphia. “If they say they have signed up but are not in the system, we will get it straightened out.â€
(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Boston and Michele Gershberg in New York; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by David Lindsey, Vicki Allen and Eric Beech)
The InterFaith Alliance of Merrimack College joined with hundreds of other students from campuses across Boston to help pack 50,000 meals for food insecure children in Massachusetts at the 4th Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Meal Packing event. They joined the Boston Interfaith Campus Coalition and Humanist Community of Harvard on November 24th for the 4th Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Meal Packing Event, and added 42 hours to the #MackGivesBack project total.
According to Chris Stedman, Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard, “Our interfaith meal packing event on Sunday was the largest meal packing that has ever occurred in Middlesex County, which also happens to be the county with the highest levels of food insecurity in all of New England. During our efforts on Sunday, we packed Kids Care’s 4 millionth meal — and then some. And with this, our fourth meal packing event, we exceeded 120,000 meals packed at our annual interfaith meal packing events. That’s 120,000 children fed, all because religious and nonreligious people came together to help those in need.â€
Prof. Zia Khan publishes pioneering study
University of Maryland faculty Zia Khan is the first author on a new study appearing in the prestigious journal Science. Prof. Khan’s work, performed in his prior position at the University of Chicago, demonstrates that protein levels are more strongly conserved during evolution than the levels of the transcripts from which these proteins are translated. While this observation makes sense – proteins are the workhorse in cells and their levels must be tightly controlled – Prof. Khan’s work is the first to disentangle the experimental noise from biological signal, thereby conclusively demonstrating this effect.
Catholic & Muslim youth cook for the homeless
STATEN ISLAND,NY–Building on the shared religious teachings of social justice, Catholic and Muslim youth in Staten Island cAme together to have their first joint interfaith cooking experience. The youth met the Albanian Islamic Cultural Centre and chop pounds of carrots, potatoes, celery, peppers, onions and radishes, which were cooked with 7 meat to serve clients at a local soup kitchen run by Project Hospitality.
The project emerges from an ongoing partnership between Albanian Islamic Cultural Center and Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) parish, brokered by the Interfaith Center of New York, and supported by the GHR Family Foundation. It is part of a larger program that promotes joint interfaith social service initiatives by Catholics and Muslims; the Interfaith Center is actively working in Harlem and the Bronx as well as Staten Island to promote these partnerships. Fr. Liam, pastor at OLGC and Imam Tahir of AICC jointly organized Cardinal Dolan’s visit to the Center and Miraj Islamic School this past summer. The youth project is a continuation of exchange between the two congregations.
Fr. Liam, the Pastor at OLGC discusses the importance of this partnership: “While acknowledging the very real differences between our two faiths, I believe that it is very important for us as Catholics and Muslims to work together to understand each other’s faith and to discover what we have in common. Helping people in need is an important part of both our faith traditions. Today we have the wonderful opportunity to learn and to talk about Jesus – the central figure in Catholicism – and Prophet Isa – as he is known and honored in Islam.â€
Imam Tahir of AICC also notes, “The Quran teaches us that the best among you is the one who is beneficial to mankind. We do interfaith activities for one reason: to be beneficial to our communities.â€
A general view of Atlantis resort in Dubai January 19, 2013. A unit of Dubai World has sold its Atlantis resort, which sits on a palm tree-shaped island in the Gulf, in an asset shuffle between state entities to help the group meet huge debt repayments after a $25 billion restructuring in 2011. Investment Corp of Dubai (ICD), a holding company which controls some of the emirate’s top firms, has bought the resort from the unit, Istithmar World, for an undisclosed sum, ICD said on December 5, 2013. Picture taken January 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Omar
ABU DHABI, Dec 30 (Reuters) – The desert states of the Gulf are changing tack in their multi-billion dollar search for food security. With their farming projects in some of the poorest African nations sometimes arousing local hostility, wealthy Arab investors are turning to those developed countries that comfortably produce more food than they consume.
United Arab Emirates-based agricultural firm Al Dahra has chose this path in March, buying eight agricultural companies for $400 million in Serbia, a major food exporter where public attitudes to foreign-owned farming may be less sensitive.
Projects in Europe, North America and Australasia tend to be more expensive and offer less scope to build vast estates like in Africa. But they also present fewer political problems and less risk for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait which all need to feed growing populations.
For years the Gulf states, dependent on imports for 80 to 90 percent of their food, poured cash into buying tens of thousands of hectares of cheap farmland and other agricultural assets in the developing world, mainly Africa.
They hoped these investments would give them direct access to big food production bases, insulating them from global swings in food prices. But the reality has proved difficult.
Some of the African projects have drawn accusations that Arab investors are grabbing land that should be used to feed local people. Bad security and weak infrastructure have plagued some ventures.
Although Gulf companies announced plans to spend billions of dollars, the problems mean many of the projects have not gone ahead, at least not to the point of large-scale food production, said Eckart Woertz, senior research fellow at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs.
“Rather than greenfield investments in Africa, the focus is more on putting money in already established agro-producers,†said Woertz, author of a book on the subject, Oil for Food.
GRAIN PRICES
The Gulf states began investing heavily in farmland overseas around 2008, after bad weather in big food producing nations, growing use of biofuels and curbs on farm exports by some governments sent grain futures markets soaring.
Wealthy Gulf governments never came close to facing food shortages but they did get a fright – especially because the price of oil, their main source of income, briefly tumbled by three-quarters in 2008.
At the same time, expensive programmes to increase food production within the Gulf were running up against the region’s brutal climate and lack of water. Saudi Arabia began to scale back a domestic wheat-growing programme in 2008, planning to rely completely on imports by 2016.
So Gulf states encouraged their companies to buy arable land in the developing world. Al Dahra is typical of that drive; it is a private firm, owned mainly by Abu Dhabi investors, but its mission statement pledges to “partner with the UAE government in realising the strategic food security programmeâ€.
The last few years have demonstrated the limits of the Gulf’s strategy of throwing money at the food security problem, however. Many projects abroad have found themselves vulnerable to capricious policy changes and trends in local politics.
Abu Dhabi investment firm Jenaan has since 2007 accumulated about 160,000 feddans (67,200 hectares) of arable land in Egypt, which is a big importer of wheat. The company originally planned to grow fodder to feed the UAE’s livestock.
But Jenaan was hit by a 300 Egyptian pound ($43) a tonne export tax, and faced other problems such as labour strikes and shortages of diesel to power machinery. This has forced Jenaan to grow wheat instead of fodder, all for consumption within Egypt, said company chairman Mohammad al Otaiba.
“We were incurring loss after loss. So now in Egypt we will only grow grains and we will also work in the dairy business – but all for local consumption,†he said.
Saudi Arabia-based billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi faced problems in Ethiopia after his firm Saudi Star acquired about 10,000 hectares in the Gambella region to grow rice. In April 2012 an armed group ambushed Saudi Star employees, leaving five people dead.
Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental body, said it thought the attack was linked to government moves to resettle villagers to clear the way for commercial farming. Saudi Star said at the time that it thought the violence was propagated by outsiders and has continued with its project.
Gulf investors say they are sensitive to host nations’ needs and the projects benefit local people by stimulating the economy. But in countries with a history of poverty and famine, it can be hard to escape controversy.
“It has proven very difficult to get big projects like that off the ground as apart from the problems with the lack of infrastructure, the poor irrigation and low technology, you also need to deal with the local population and their issues,†said Rob Bailey, research head at London think tank Chatham House.
STABILITY
Gulf states are therefore looking more closely at projects in Europe and the United States, where political and policy risks – while not negligible – seem smaller.
Details of some projects are not announced, so there is no comprehensive information on the scope of the Gulf investment. But Bailey said Gulf states were “rebalancing their portfolios†towards the West in the agricultural sector.
Al Dahra’s investment in Serbia, aimed at developing the companies to grow and process food for export, was said to be the biggest investment in the country’s agriculture for decades. In addition the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, an official aid body, announced a $400 million loan to Serbia’s agriculture sector.
Apart from the Serbian venture, Al Dahra has been investing elsewhere in Europe and in the Americas, while Jenaan has investments in the United States and Spain. Hassad Food, the agricultural arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, set up an Australian subsidiary in 2009 with a focus on wheat, barley and livestock.
In June this year Saudi Arabian-owned United Farmers Holding Co acquired Continental Farmers Group, a firm which has farming operations in Poland and Ukraine and produces crops including wheat and maize. United Farmers is jointly held by Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Co, Saudi food producer Almarai and Saudi Grain and Fodder Holding.
Gulf projects in Africa were often mainly land purchases, needing infusions of technology for farming to begin. By contrast, many of the investments in Europe are in agricultural businesses that just need some financial help to grow.
“Often you have companies that have reached a certain level and they need investments to move to the next level themselves, so it makes a good partnership for us,†said Brian Barriskill, supply chain director at Al Dahra.
Gulf executives and officials insist they will not give up on most of their ventures in the developing world. Jenaan’s Otaiba said he remained optimistic about nations such as Sudan.
Jenaan wants to boost its land holdings there from the current 200,000 hectares to 1 million by 2020, according to Khalil al Shammari, the company’s general manager for projects and operations.
But future Gulf investment in food security are likely to be more cautious and diversified. Abu Dhabi’s Food Security Centre, a body set up in 2010 to coordinate activities across the UAE, encourages investments in a broad range of countries.
“Instability in some countries…is something that happens, so we just have to spread our risk,†said Khalifa al-Ali, managing director of the centre.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A new way of assembling things, called metamaterials, may in the not too distant future help to protect a building from earthquakes by bending seismic waves around it. Similarly, tsunami waves could be bent around towns, and soundwaves bent around a room to make it soundproof.
While the holy grail of metamaterials is still to make objects and people invisible to the eye, they are set to have a more tangible commercial impact playing more mundane roles – from satellite antennas to wirelessly charging cellphones.
Metamaterials are simply materials that exhibit properties not found in nature, such as the way they absorb or reflect light. The key is in how they’re made. By assembling the material – from photonic crystals to wire and foam – at a scale smaller than the length of the wave you’re seeking to manipulate, the wave can, in theory, be bent to will.
This makes metamaterials the tool of choice for scientists racing to build all sorts of wave-cloaking devices, including the so-called invisibility cloak – a cover to render whatever’s inside effectively invisible by bending light waves around it.
“The invisibility cloak was just one more thing we were discovering – that we have all this flexibility in this material and here’s another thing we can do,†David Smith of Duke University, widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of metamaterials, said in a telephone interview. “But we’re equally interested in seeing this transition in making a difference in people’s lives.â€
Indeed, Smith’s own journey from laboratory to factory illustrates that while metamaterials have for some become synonymous with “Harry Potter†cloaks, their promise is more likely to be felt in a range of industries and uses, from smaller communication devices to quake-proof buildings.
BENDING LIGHT
At the heart of both metamaterials and invisibility are waves. If electromagnetic waves – whether visible light, microwave or infrared – can be bent around an object it would not be visible on those wavelengths. It was long thought you couldn’t control light in this way with natural materials as their optical properties depended on the chemistry of the atoms from which they were made.
It was only when Smith and his colleagues experimented with altering the geometry of material in the late 1990s that they found they could change the way it interacted with light, or other kinds of wave – creating metamaterials. With that, says Andrea Alu, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, scientists found “it may be possible to challenge rules and limitations that were for centuries considered written in stone.â€
The past decade has seen an explosion in research that has built on Smith’s findings to make objects invisible to at least some forms of light.
“There have now been several demonstrations of cloaking at visible wavelengths, so cloaking is truly possible and has been realized,†says Jason Valentine of Vanderbilt University, who made one of the first such cloaks. These, however, have limitations – such as only working for certain wavelengths or from certain angles. But the barriers are falling fast, says Valentine.
In the past year, for example, Duke University’s Yaroslav Urzhumov has made a plastic cloak that deflects microwave beams using a normal 3D printer, while Alu has built an ultra-thin cloak powered by electric current.
INVISIBLE ARMY?
Funding much of this U.S. research is the military.
Urzhumov said in an email interview that the U.S. Department of Defense is “one of the major sponsors of metamaterials and invisibility research in the U.S.†The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which commissions advanced research for the Department of Defense, has funded research into metamaterials since 2000, according to the department’s website.
Military interest in metamaterials was primarily in making a cloak, said Miguel Navarro-Cia of Imperial College London, who has researched the topic with funding from the European Defence Agency and U.S. military.
But an invisibility cloak needn’t be a sinister tool of war.
Vanderbilt’s Valentine suggests architectural usage. “You could use this technology to hide supporting columns from sight, making a space feel completely open,†he said.
Other potential uses include rendering parts of an aircraft invisible for pilots to see below the cockpit, or to rid drivers of the blind spot in a car.
Military or not, this is all some way off.
“Most invisibility cloaks, essentially, are still in the research stage,†says Ong Chong Kim, director at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Superconducting and Magnetic Materials.
MAKING WAVES
Ong and others say that while metamaterials may not yet be making objects invisible to the eye, they could be used to redirect other kinds of waves, including mechanical waves such as sound and ocean waves. French researchers earlier this year, for example, diverted seismic waves around specially placed holes in the ground, reflecting the waves backward.
Ong points to the possibility of using what has been learned in reconfiguring the geometry of materials to divert tsunamis from strategic buildings.
Elena Semouchkina, a pioneer on cloaking devices at Michigan Technological University, points to screening antennas so they don’t interfere with each other, protecting people from harmful radiation or acoustic pressure, and even preventing buildings from destruction from seismic waves.
Metamaterials could also absorb and emit light with extremely high efficiency – for example in a high-resolution ultrasound – or redirect light over a very small distance. This, says Anthony Vicari of Lux Research, “could be used to improve fiber optical communications networks, or even for optical communications within microchips for faster computing.â€
COMMERCIAL USES
Indeed, there’s clearly a growing appetite for commercializing the unique properties of metamaterials.
One of the first to do so was the new defunct Rayspan Corp, a California-based company whose antennas found their way into WiFi routers from networking manufacturer Netgear Inc and a superflat smartphone from LG Electronics Inc.
The antennas were smaller, flatter and performed better than other options, but integrating them into the rest of the phone proved difficult, said former Rayspan executives. A spokesman for LG said the project was no longer active and LG had no plans to apply metamaterials in other products.
“One thing from my experience as an entrepreneur is that technology gets very excited about what it’s doing in the lab,†said Maha Achour, who co-founded Rayspan, “but the reality when you commercialize things is completely different.†The company’s patents have since been sold to an undisclosed buyer.
The lessons have been learned. Now, the focus has shifted to using metamaterials in products in markets where they can more easily gain a commercial foothold.
Smith, who built the first metamaterials in 1999, has led the charge, teaming up with Intellectual Ventures, a patent portfolio firm, to spin off two companies: Kymeta Corp, making flat-panel antennas for satellite communications, and Evolv Technologies, which hopes to make a lighter, faster and portable airport scanner – with no moving parts. Kymeta, in partnership with satellite operators Inmarsat and O3b Networks, hopes to ship in early 2015.
The two fields were chosen from a shortlist of 20 potential markets, Smith said. “They’re the same metamaterials behind the cloak, but we were looking for more near-term applications.â€
WIRELESS CHARGING
The next likely consumer use of metamaterials could be in the wireless charging of devices, an area attracting keen industry attention. Mark Gostock of ISIS Innovation Ltd, an Oxford University research commercialization firm, said he was in talks with several manufacturers to license ISIS’ technology. Samsung Electronics has filed several patents related to metamaterials and wireless charging, but declined to comment for this article.
Other companies that cite metamaterials in their patent filings include Harris Corp, NEC Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co and Panasonic Corp. Eventually, says Wil McCarthy, chief technology officer of Denver-based smart window maker RavenBrick LLC and holder of a patent he hopes will bring metamaterials to polarizing windows, metamaterials will be incorporated without much fanfare.
“The people buying these products will have no idea how they work, and won’t know or care that they’re doing things that were previously considered impossible,†he says.
Muslim Community Service Day: Christmas Toy Delivery by Sumayyah Ahmed
For the past 5 years, Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) and the Jewish Community Relations Council have brought hundreds of volunteers together for acts of kindness on December 25th. This year, volunteers hit the streets doing a multitude of activities such as delivering food for Meals on Wheels, entertaining elderly in nursing homes, packing books at a warehouse, delivering bags of toys and gifts to at-risk families in Metro Detroit, and more. The Jewish community began Mitzvah (Service) Day over 20 years ago, and the Muslim community has joined them in spending some time during the holiday season giving back to the community in a show of interfaith solidarity. Here is a personal anecdote from a young Muslim girl who has participated in the program:
For majority of our Muslim community, Christmas is just another day in passing. Just like Eid is for the non-Muslims of our area. However, over the past few years I’ve had the great pleasure to make Christmas not only a memorable experience for families all across metro Detroit, but also for me. Jimmy’s Kids has provided me with countless opportunities to put a smile on a child’s face. It has allowed me to display a wonderful act of charity. This Christmas many families and individuals woke up early to be “Santa’s helpersâ€. The families who received these gifts live in places our eyes are not used to seeing- burned down houses, graffiti on buildings, and homes with no heat. Many of the houses also had non-functioning doorbells so we had to knock on doors, windows, and the actual house itself. In one house, a dog met us at the entrance of the house and began jumping on the kids that were with me delivering presents. In other houses, we had to knock multiple times before anyone opened the doors. Fathers, daughters, mothers greeted us with confused faces which quickly became full of laughter and cheer. A few of the families we visited didn’t know a word of English so it was difficult communicating with them.
My favorite delivery was for a family of six. The parents didn’t speak English but the four children they did. They invited us into their home and explained their Mexican Christmas traditions. The look on the children’s faces when they saw their gifts was priceless. They were so excited and appreciative. The father said it was the best Christmas they have had.
So what is a Muslim doing helping others celebrate Christmas? There is never a bad day to help others and perform acts of kindness. At the end of the day, there really isn’t anything controversial about putting a smile on a little kids face. Being able to bring happiness to so many families is a blessing. I am so thankful to MMCC and Jimmy’s Kids for being apart of this effort.
Audience at the Muslim advocates legal seminar at the Fairlane Events Center.
Dearborn- On December 14, the Muslim Advocates Legal Seminar convened at the Fairlane Events Center. The goal of the well-organized event was to educate the dozens of nonprofit leaders in attendance ranging from proper management, tax law, interactions with the media, and much more. The Michigan Muslim Community Council(MMCC) and the Michigan Muslim Bar Association helped sponsor the informative event.
The meeting started with a welcome from Farhana Khera , Executive Director of the Muslim Advocates. Khera, along with other Muslim Advocates team members, introduced to the attendees the three goals of the organization- to defend Muslims in discrimination-related lawsuits across the country, to educate Muslim nonprofits in their legal rights and duties, and to challenge hateful dialogue and perceptions of Muslims.
Featured experts included representatives from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), national media organizations such as Media Matters, accountants, as well as lawyers in the non-profit sector. Each professional presented a pertinent slideshow on their subject and later answered specific inquiries from the audience, thus providing broad overviews of their disciplines while responding to the specific needs of the leaders.
The MMCC has a busy year ahead. The Muslim Volunteer Day on December 25 will feature over a hundred Muslims volunteering across Michigan with members of the Jewish faith. In addition, preparations for the annual Capitol Day, on May 13th, are steaming ahead. For more information regarding community activism, please visit the Michigan Muslim Community Council’s website at www.mimuslimcouncil.com.
An Africa Union peacekeeping soldier takes a strategic position to quell street violence in neighbourhoods in the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui, December 20, 2013. Christian militia attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in the capital of the Central African Republic on Friday, as France appealed to European partners for assistance in quelling months of religious violence in its former colony. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu
BANGUI (Reuters) – Mariam watched in horror as militiamen burst through the gate of her home in Central African Republic’s capital Bangui and demanded her husband say whether he was Muslim. When he said yes, they shot him dead. “They killed him just like that in front of our child,†said Mariam, who fled through the back door. “Then they hacked and clubbed our neighbors, a husband and wife, to death.â€
The two-day frenzy of violence in Bangui this month fed fears that Central African Republic was about to descend into religious warfare on a scale comparable to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
More than 1,000 people were killed, according to Amnesty International, as mostly Muslim fighters from the Seleka rebel group that seized power in March retaliated against Christians. The slaughter prompted France to immediately deploy 1,600 troops under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
Religious leaders had sounded the alarm over abuses by the Seleka after they burned churches, looted and killed during their southward march on the capital early this year. The violence has displaced some 700,000 people so far.
Many in the country insist that the origins of the bloodshed have little to do with religion, in a nation where Muslims and Christians have long lived in peace. Instead, they blame a political battle for control over resources in one of Africa’s weakest-governed states, split along ethnic faultlines and worsened by foreign meddling.
“We carried out these attacks because we have been invaded by foreigners by Chad and Sudan,†said Hercule Bokoe, a member of the militia, known as “anti-machete†and set up for self defense before the Seleka rebels arrived. He said his group’s aim was purely political: it would fight on until Seleka leader Michel Djotodia, installed as interim president, left power. “We said to ourselves that the country cannot continue to be held hostage by foreigners,†Bokoe told Reuters.
“POLITICAL CONFLICTâ€
Rich in diamonds, timber, gold, uranium and even oil, Central African Republic has been racked by five coups and numerous rebellions since independence from France in 1960 as different groups fought for control of state resources.
That – and spillover from conflicts in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Chad – have destroyed the rule of law, leaving a phantom state with an ill-disciplined army, corrupt administration and a lawless interior.
Djotodia and other Seleka leaders launched their uprising to gain access for northern peoples to resource wealth – particularly oil being exploited in their northern homeland by the China National Petroleum Corporation.
Djotodia says his northern Gula tribespeople – Muslim pastoralists neglected both under French colonial rule and post-independence governments – were betrayed by former President Francis Bozize, who sought their aid for a 2003 coup but surrounded himself with his Gbaya tribe once in power.
With support from battle-hardened Chadian and Sudanese fighters, many of them also Gulas, Seleka swept southward, overrunning not only Bozize’s poorly equipped troops but also a South African peacekeeping force in March.
Once in Bangui, unable to speak French or the local Sango language, Seleka fighters sought out Arabic-speaking Muslims and stayed with them, often hoarding looted goods in their homes.
Non-Muslims equated this with complicity, said Archbishop of Bangui Diedonne Nzapalainga, with the devastating effects seen in the early December violence.
“To non-Muslim locals, Muslim now equals Seleka and Seleka equals Muslim,†said Nzapalainga, who for months has worked with Muslim clerics to try to calm rising religious tensions. “We came out early and declared that this conflict was not a religious conflict but a political one.â€
“CHAD IS THE MASTERâ€
Djotodia, 64, waged an unsuccessful uprising against Bozize in the late 2000s using a network of Sudanese and Chadian support he had established during his time as consul in Nyala in Sudan’s southern Darfur region earlier that decade.
But a rift between Bozize and his main military backer, Chadian President Idriss Deby, shifted the balance of power in Djotodia’s favor. Deby, who had helped install Bozize as president in the 2003 coup, withdrew his Chadian presidential guard last year.
Witnesses said Chadian peacekeepers simply stood aside when Seleka troops – led by a former member of Deby’s own presidential bodyguard – marched on Bangui. As Bozize’s replacement in the presidential palace, it is now Djotodia who enjoys the protection of Chadian bodyguards.
Many in the capital say ethnic ties between the Seleka and Chadian soldiers participating in a 3,700-strong African Union peacekeeping mission (MISCA) are complicating efforts to resolve the crisis.
Residents in Bangui have accused Chadian troops of supplying Seleka fighters, turning a blind eye to their activities, and even attacking Christians themselves. Olivier Domanga, a resident of northern Bangui, said Chadian troops distributed dozens of weapons to Muslim inhabitants of his neighborhood.
“Chad is the master of Seleka and Seleka is its attack dog,†said Philomon Dounia, another Bangui resident.
Chad says its peacekeepers are neutral and denies supporting Seleka or distributing weapons to Muslims.
After opposition politicians and civil society activists demanded the Chadians’ withdrawal, MISCA’s commanding officer, Cameroon’s Martin Tumenta Chomu, said on Tuesday they would be moved outside the capital to northern Central African Republic.
WORST EVER LOOTING
Even in a country inured to rebellions, Seleka’s atrocities have proved shocking. It has been exacerbated the lack of a command structure in the loose coalition, whose name means ‘alliance’ in Sango. Warlords carved up territory where they had the power of life and death as they sought to extort money, particularly from non-Muslims.
Acknowledging he was powerless to control the fighters in a country the area of France, Djotodia announced the official dissolution and disarmament of Seleka following outcry from the international community, but this had little effect.
As Seleka torched villages and massacred entire populations, the “anti-macheteâ€, or “anti-balaka†– initially local militias paid to defend crops and cattle against robbers and highwaymen due to the absence of state security – began seeking revenge.
According to local animist beliefs, members of the militia have magical powers that protect them, and amulets they wear make them invincible.
“The anti-balaka have nothing to do with the church or Christianity. Calling them a Christian militia is wrong,†said Nzapalainga, who said the ranks of the militia were swollen by people who had lost belongings or loved ones to Seleka.
“To them, it is revenge. I have heard people say this is the ‘return match’,†he said.
Louisa Lombard, an anthropologist specializing in Central Africa Republic, said tensions between Muslims and Christians had increased over the past decade but this was due largely to the success of Muslim traders with contacts in Chad and Sudan, rather than a rise of religious extremism.
“It is more an issue of the Muslims being considered foreigners by the Christians,†she said.
Despite these tensions, many Central Africans are proud of their tolerance and tradition of cohabitation and inter-marriage.
Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, leader of the country’s Muslims, was offered refuge at St. Paul’s church in Bangui by Nzapalainga after his family was threatened. In the capital’s northern PK5 neighborhood, Muslim youths guarded the St. Mathias Catholic church and protected Christians.
Helen Tofio, one of 40,000 people who fled to Bangui airport to seek safety near a French camp, voiced concern that ongoing tit-for-tat violence would sow the seeds of religious strife.
“We used to live in harmony with Muslims before the arrival of the Seleka,†she said. “But their abuses, and the attitude of some Muslims who seem to be supporting them, have given rise increasingly to religious conflict.â€
World famous hunger striking political prisoner from Jerusalem, Samer Issaw, 34, was released from Shita Prison on December 23, 2013, the day after Israeli troops raided his home and detained his father Tariq and brother Midhat Issawi.
On December 22, Israeli forces gave Samer’s father and brother “notifications†ordering them to report to Israeli intelligence for interrogations. Samer’s father was threatened and warned about causing “problems.†He was prohibited from organizing celebrations for Samer’s release. The men were then let go. They were reportedly present at the big party!
Samer’s sister, Shireen posted a Facebook comment, saying: “I swear to God we will rejoice in the freedom of the hero Samer Issawi.â€
In response to the Israeli threats, she said: “We have the right. The world will stay with us, and we will rejoice.â€
“Samer Issawi’s family was ordered by Israeli terror police earlier today not to celebrate and to take down the flags raised at their home,†stated the Free Samer Issawi Campaign.
2,000 supporters celebrated joyously upon his release. However, the ongoing electricity crisis in Gaza meant that many supporters couldn’t follow live coverage of his homecoming.
Issawi’s mother, Laila Issawi, said Samer is still very weak and that his condition requires constant vigilant treatment. Due to his 8 month hunger strike, he lost half his body weight. “If I die, it is a victory,†he had said. “If we are liberated, it is a victory.†He is still unable to eat solid foods.
Issawi was one of the 1,027 prisoners released from Israeli prison in the deal for the freedom of Gilad Shalit. He was originally convicted in 2002 of being a Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine activist.
In October 2011, Issawi, then serving the ninth year of a 30-year jail sentence for involvement in resistance activities against Israel, was released as part of an Egypt-brokered prisoner swap between Hamas and Israeli authorities, reports Al-Ahram news agency. Issawi was rearrested July 2012 under Israel’s so-called administrative detention law, for trying to catch a bus in Kufr Aqab, a village within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem near a Jewish settlement, in what Israeli officials said was a parole violation. His lawyer Andre Rosenthal stated that he had been taking his car to be fixed at a garage in the West Bank.
According to Addameer, as a result of this arrest, Issawi again faced twenty years’ imprisonment by an Israeli military court – on the grounds of secret information not accessible to him or his lawyer.
Demonstrations in support of Issawi’s hunger strike were held throughout Palestine. A protest tent in Issaiyeh, Issawi’s village, was destroyed by Israeli forces more than 20 times, Maath Musleh reported for The Electronic Intifada.On January 7, 2013, a protest organized by the Palestinian activist Hala Numan, took place in Washington, DC in support of Issawi.
As a result of his hunger strike as the resulting publicity, Israel offered to deport him in April 2013 but he refused to be released anywhere but his home in Jerusalem. Lawyer Jawad Boulos said that while “Israel had tried to make him agree to being deported†to any of a number of countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Finland and Switzerland, Issawi had “strongly refused in principle to be deported to any state.â€
In January 2013, Israel demolished the house of Samer’s eldest brother, Ra’fat in retaliation. On February 30, 2013 masked Israeli soldiers ordered his father to take all family members outside while they ransacked the house.
Samer’s sister Shireen is an attorney that has worked very hard for his release. Israeli activists and intellectuals intervened to help free him. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on February 13, 2013 regarding the condition of Issawi and 3 other prisoners of Israel engaged in a hunger strike to protest the fact they were being held in prison without being convicted.
After a hunger striking 266 days, coming very close to death, Issawi reached an agreement with Israeli authorities in April, agreeing to end the hunger strike and serve a further eight months, totaling a sentence of 17 months. He had been kept alive through intravenous fluids. Since then, he still has refused solid food and is therefore very weak.
“I wanted to protect the rights of Palestinian prisoners and deter Israel from re-arresting more Palestinians who had been freed in the Shalit deal,†Issawi told Palestinian reporters according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, retired Israeli judge in Ofer Military Court Adrian Agassi has called on Israeli government to kill Palestinian prisoners instead of releasing them, Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights said.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called for the rearrest of Samer al-Issawi, two days after Issawi was released to his East Jerusalem home, claiming that Issawi was guilty of inciting violence:
“Just yesterday, on the day of his release, Issawi called in an interview with Hamas television to continue to kidnap IDF soldiers and said that ‘the release of prisoners will be reached only by kidnappings and prisoner swaps and nothing will be achieved without that,’†Liberman claimed in a statement posted to his Facebook page.
Stephen Lendmann reports: “His grandfather was a founding PLO member. British Mandate authorities sentenced him to death. In 1994, Israeli forces murdered his brother, Fadi. He was aged 16 at the time. It was during a peaceful demonstration. His brother Medhat served 19 years in prison. His other brothers Firas, Ra’afat and Shadi were imprisoned for 5 to 11 years. Issawi’s brother, Shadi, was arrested on February 16 in an Israeli house raid.â€
Midhat had just been released from prison on December 10 of this year, his sister Shirin said.
Sister Shirin “was detained for the duration of 2010,†according to Addameer. Shirin was again arrested in December 2012 and banned from attending Samer’s hearings for six months, reported Al-Haq, a Palestinian non-governmental organization for human rights.
The “Free Samer Issawi Campaign†Facebook page, which garnered over 10,000 likes, posted: “Samer is a hero to us, to the entire Palestinian population inside of Palestine and in the diaspora, and to millions of supporters around the world.â€
Israeli forces stormed several West Bank neighborhoods in the Bethlehem, Nablus and Ramallah districts last week, breaking into homes and kidnapping young men.
Two brothers Muhammad Salih Bader, 25, and Islam Salih Bader, 20, held without charge, ended their 38-day hunger strike after Ofer prison authorities decided to transfer them to court for trial.
The house in which Mary is purported to have lived her last years, located in Mt. Koressos in the vicinity of Ephesus, near Selçuk in Turkey.
At Christmas time I hum along to the Little Drummer Boy song. I always wanted to be that drummer who gave a gift to the new born King and makes Mary smile. And I’m reminded again that the more I learn and reflect about the many manifestations of Mary, mother of Jesus, the more I am in awe of her.
Her story and place in history has been a source of strength for my soul and life, especially as a woman and as a mother. Although my understanding of Mary’s story is based on the Quran’s telling of her role – an entire chapter, Maryam, is named after her — I’ve also gathered inspiration from women I’ve met, who interpret her story for their own lives. I’ve revisited her through various stages of my life and find ways that I might fill the gaps in how much we really know about someone who lived centuries ago.
The story starts with Hanna, Mary’s mother who made a vow while pregnant, dedicating her unborn child to God for the benefit of humanity:
“Oh my Lord! I do dedicate unto You what is in my womb for thy special service. So accept this of me, for You hear and know all things.†(Quran 3:35)
At that time, this dedication would mean sending the child to the temple to live, serve and be raised. Besides a consecration to the physical temple, this conscious act of dedication reminds us as mothers-to-be that the collection of our thoughts, actions and mindfulness during pregnancy has bearing on our wombs and what develops within. We are not just vessels to carry a life into the world, but how we think about the child and how we treat our bodies can have consequences on the emotional, mental and physical development of a fetus.
During each of my three pregnancies, I read Hanna’s prayer and imbibed the notion that what I felt could be transferred to my unborn child. This moved me to write notes to each child somersaulting inside me, become more in tune with how my body was behaving and observe closely what each yet-to-be born little one was exposed to.
When Hanna’s child was born and turned out to be a girl, she did not step away from her vow. She insisted that she had dedicated the child in her womb, not differentiating between a boy or girl. She is told that although the societal norm did not grant females such a ranking, God accepts her dedication. Hanna says:
“…I have named her Mary and I commend her and her offspring to Your protection from any Evil.â€â€¦Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty.†(3:36-37)
This is the basis for shattering double standards as a practice; that roles for benefit of society or in service of God can be performed by anyone dedicated to doing so. And this also speaks to the responsibility of each to assert this equality either for themselves or to advocate for others who cannot. Working in international development, I’ve heard Hanna’s example resonate in various women’s empowerment programs and efforts embedded with worldviews that respect and honor the role of Mary.
As she grows, Mary spends a great deal of time in a space in the temple called themihrab, or niche. She passes her time praying and communing with a higher presence regularly, without intermediaries, she has direct connection and contact with the divine. But even more so I imagine her as a student and aspiring scholar who learns independently.
She must also have been cognizant of the temple’s many dimensions of influence and power, which eventually will come to be seen as monopolizing of religious authority in that society. She chooses to separate from politics and social hierarchy and instead create a sanctuary and focus on bettering herself while considering solutions to what may be happening outside her sacred space.
Although she is to be the mother of Jesus, this is the span of time I realize that she herself has importance and value in how she made her own mark in society. To this day, that safe space Mary created for connectivity with God, the mihrab, is honored in mosques. In fact, it is also the spot from where community leaders deliver sermons, which should ideally uphold the call for justice and equality.
After it is revealed to her that she will carry a child, Mary submits to her destiny after hearing from Gabriel that it is the Creator’s will. She has that unshakeable faith. However, when she goes into the throes of labor, she cries out:
“Ah! Would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!†(19-23)
She realizes that that the responsibility of explaining her condition will be great and that the pain she endures is overwhelming. This plea from her reminds me that it is acceptable, even for someone who has received God’s grace and blessings, to not only doubt herself, but wonder if what she is being called for is even possible physically, mentally or emotionally. Of course this well resonates with so many of us who, in the midst of labor, have shouted out all sorts of pleas and heartfelt cries!
In response to her cries of suffering through childbirth, Mary receives revelation telling her to hold fast to the trunk of a nearby palm tree as the pain crescendos and she is alone. She’s told to eat dates and drink from the stream running nearby to keep her strength. This set of directives assures me that while prayer is powerful and important, solutions are linked to our own action and taking responsibility for our condition. Her pain could have been easily eliminated in response to her prayers, or not have even been necessary since she was under divine protection.
But to me, the lesson here is to understand what we can have control over, what is beneficial knowledge for us to have on hand, and how our actions can make a difference. In addition, for both men and women to understand that the experience of childbirth is grounded in the physical realm and needs to be recognized as a difficult process, in this case even for the mother Jesus. In fact, centuries later, Prophet Muhammad (s) would equate the pains of labor with battles to fight injustice – the reward for dying during both are that of being a martyr in the cause of serving God.
Mary’s role does not end with the birth of Jesus. She continues as a devout believer in the greater good and as a dedicated teacher who imparts on her growing son values of quiet empathy, recognizing imbalanced influences of power structures, and the persistent potency of prayer. Some 30 years of learning from his mother and this diligent upbringing, coupled with the Divine’s destiny for him, Jesus becomes the Christ who himself teaches principles of equality and justice – to serve the poor and give voice to the oppressed.
He also came to confront and question the monopoly and hegemony of religious institutions that had taken access to God away from everyday people. He spoke truth to power that was masquerading as religious dogma and authority. In part, it has been argued that the reason Jesus (as) was born without a father was to demonstrate to the religious leaders that their projection of being over protective fathers of the masses was misinformed and against divine precepts.
The Biblical and Quranic stories of Mary are especially moving to me, as I’ve interpreted them to see her as a fellow woman aspiring to spiritual connectivity, who creates her own space and place for understanding of all things Divine and worldly, and finally being able to impart these to others who, for her, included the Prophet of Peace, Jesus Christ (as).
As my sons grow into themselves and explore spiritual relationships on their own terms, Mary continues to teach me the value of sharing the practice of perseverance and patience. And even more, as I myself continue to evolve as a person, I realize that stories such as Mary’s are much deeper and resonate more when we make them a part of our lives in practice, beyond being frozen on an unreachable pedestal.
Afeefa Syeed is a cultural anthropologist working in international development based in Washington, D.C. and the mother of three boys.
The logo of Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite news channel is seen in Doha February 7, 2011. REUTERS/ Fadi Al-Assaad
CAIRO (Reuters) – Al Jazeera said Egyptian security forces arrested three of its journalists after the interior ministry accused the Qatar-based television channel of broadcasting illegally from a hotel suite together with a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al Jazeera’s offices in Cairo have been closed since July 3 when they were raided by security forces hours after the army ousted the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi from the presidency.
“State security received information that a member of the (Brotherhood) used two suites in a Cairo hotel to hold meetings with other members of the organization and turned the suites into a press center,†the Interior Ministry said.
“(They) made live broadcasts of news that harms homeland security, spreading rumors and false news to Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel without permits.â€
A member of the Brotherhood and an Australian journalist who works for Al Jazeera were arrested and equipment was seized, including broadcast transmitters, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Al Jazeera said three journalists from its English news channel had been arrested, a correspondent, a producer and a cameraman.
Qatar was a strong financial backer of the Brotherhood’s rule. Its relationship with Cairo has deteriorated in recent months as it vehemently opposes the army’s overthrow of Mursi and the crackdown on his movement that has followed.
Since Mursi’s ouster, Egypt has faced some of its worst violence in decades, which the government has blamed on Islamic militants. It declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group last week and has arrested thousands of its members, including Mursi.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed concern about recent developments in Egypt in a call on Sunday to Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, discussing the “balance between security and freedom.â€
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Monday classified Egypt alongside Syria and Iraq as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to operate in.
“Amid stark political polarization and related street violence, things deteriorated dramatically for journalists in Egypt, where six journalists were killed for their work in 2013,†the CPJ said.
Egypt is pushing through a political transition that could lead to presidential and parliamentary elections next year. A constitutional referendum is due to take place in mid-January.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by John Stonestreet)
Dr. AG Ahmed was recently awarded the Science and Tech Award from Planet Africa Group at a prestigious celebrity event in Toronto. This award identifies and recognizes hard work, leadership and excellence, producing role models, especially for our young people. Dr. AG Ahmed is the Director of the Anger Disorders Clinic at The Royal mental health facility in Ottawa and forensic psychiatrist and clinical director at the Brockville Mental Health Centre.
Abdulbaki Todashev, representing the interests of his son – Ibragim Todashev
Dear Mr. President,
Abdulbaki Todashev
I am writing to you being dictated by the call of my soul and the unalleviated pain of a father whose son was ruthlessly killed. I am not asking you to share my pain but I am asking you, as the head of the great country – the guarantor of democracy in the modern world, to help the law and justice prevail. I will try to be short and concise.
My son was born in 1985 in a family with other 11 children. All my life I worked hard, trying to provide for my family and bring up dignified and law-abiding children.
In 2008 Ibragim, being a fifth year student at the Chechen State University, was enrolled in an international student exchange program and went to the United States to practice his English. In Boston he studied English in depth and got engaged in big sports – Mixed Martial Arts. In 2011 he moved to Orlando, Florida. All these years, alongside with his studies and sports, he worked to earn his living and sometimes received financial support from his family back home.
We, Ibragim’s parents, were aware of everything that was happening in his life in America, including his friends, girlfriends and trainers, as he was regularly in contact not only with his father, mother, sisters and brothers, but also with his other relatives and friends.
After the terrorist attack in Boston FBI interrogated my son several times because he was acquainted with Tsarnayev brothers – suspects of the terrorist attack. He got acquainted with them because they trained in the same gym when he lived in Boston. When Boston events took place my son had already lived at 6022 Peregrine Ave., Orlando, Florida 32819, USA. He had received a green card and was preparing to visit his family in Russia. Having had a knee operation he was waiting for his leg to heal to be able to walk independently. He had bought presents for his relatives and tickets for a flight that was supposed to take place on May 24. However, on May 22 he was visited by FBI agents who ruthlessly cut short his life.
Large amount of factual evidences proves that he neither had anything to do with the terrorist attack nor with any other crimes, which FBI wanted to hang on him. We, as Chechens, know very well what terrorism is and how many innocent lives have been taken by it during the first and the second Chechen campaigns. Chechens have always condemned terrorist attacks wherever they have taken place and whatever goals have been pursued by their executors. Neither bad nor good intentions justify terrorism.
Let’s assume that my son was suspected in participating in a crime. FBI agents four times interrogated him in their office. Please, note that the interrogations took place in their office and Ibragim regularly visited them when they called him and provided detailed answers to all their questions. He was neither arrested nor was he detained. Then he told me that he did not want to go to the FBI office anymore because the agents put pressure on him. The fifth time FBI agents came to his place. They asked his friend Khusein Taramov, who was at that time with Ibragim, to leave the apartment. After that Ibragim was tortured and later shot multiple times in the body and in the head to guarantee his death. Ibragim’s body and his head had 13 (thirteen) gunshot wounds. I also should mention that I have not misspoken about tortures. His face and body had bruises sustained while he was still alive.
There are many questions that arise from the above mentioned facts. I will list the most salient ones:
1. Why the group of FBI agents after four interrogations in their office, came to Ibragim’s house for the fifth interrogation? After all what happened to Ibragim I am inclined to think that they came to kill him. It seems that killing him in their office would create significant challenges for them.
2. There was an article in the media that said that an allegedly anonymous FBI agent shared that Ibragim attacked them and they used fire arms in order to defend themselves.
Let’s assume that this is true and Ibragim, having become Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger, all in one, literally threw around and battered the entire group of specially trained and well-armed agents. These are fairy tales for the mentally infirm, because shortly before this incident my son had undergone a serious operation on his knee at GAVETTA Orthopedic Clinics on 03.13.2013 (diagnosis: anterior cross-shaped ligament and meniscal tears) and used crutches. His weight at that time was 72 kilograms while height was 175 centimeters (photography of the operated knee is enclosed).
3. What kind of actions could my son do to endanger the lives of FBI agents while he was literally in their hands and how these agents could allow any danger to arise to kill him so ruthlessly in his apartment? This is absurd. It is clear and obvious. This means that these FBI agents were incompetent if they allowed this to happen. My son was absolutely unarmed.
That means he was provoked. Unlawful acts were committed against him; unacceptable methods were used on him. They must have needed it; they wanted to provoke him, and any healthy person could be provoked after hours-long interrogations.
Even if the FBI agents were right, why would they shoot at him so many times instead of immobilizing him by shooting in his shoulder or leg, etc.? Doesn’t FBI have other special means that can neutralize anyone, such as tasers, batoons and so on?
I would like to emphasize once again that all this was happening inside my son’s home and not while he was being chased on the street or someplace else in the course of an arrest, or resisting authority, or during the commission of a crime.
4. The medical examiner’s report concerning my son’s body has not yet been released to my legal attorneys, despite the fact that they requested it several times. The medical examiner’s office claimed the FBI banned the report’s release. I can’t help but think that an independent medical examination is unlikely if the examiners obey the FBI’s orders.
5. Why does FBI subject Ibragim’s friends and acquaintances to pressure and blackmail by threatening arrests and deportations?. Having refused to work for FBI Ibragim’s friends, Tatiana Gruzdeva and Ashurmamad Miraliev, were deported from the United States. Many others have been forced to leave the country under FBI’s pressure.
6. Why does FBI pressure not only all Ibragim’s acquaintances, but now also my acquaintances, who helped me during my first visit to the United States when I picked up my slain sons’s body, as well as my second visit, when I was trying to learn from Ibragim’s acquaintances and friends about the circumstances surrounding his death?
7. FBI does everything to prevent this case from hearings in court and, if hearings take place, to ensure that none of the witnesses can provide positive feedback about my son.
8. When I came to the United States for the second time I lived in Ibragim’s apartment. I slept on his bed, ate in the same cafes where he did, visited the gym where he trained, went to the mosque where he prayed, always was with his friends and talked to his acquaintances and neighbors. In other words I was in his shoes. Believe me it is extremely difficult to recall these events again and again. I wouldn’t wish this even to my fiercest enemy. For the entire time of my own investigation I haven’t heard anything bad about my son.
Dear Mr. President,
Unfortunately I am not an expert in the U. S. criminal legislation but in my country actions of these FBI agents are classified as an abuse of power and a premeditated murder. I believe that the FBI agents not only damaged reputation of their agency but also of the entire country in the eyes of the international community.
It seems that FBI in the United States is everything. President is nothing for them. They are judges and prosecutors. There is no authority above them. FBI can kill anyone wherever and whenever they want. If FBI suspects something they first kill and then start looking for scapegoats, trying to connect something that cannot be connected, such as Japanese Tsunami with American Tornado. They think up legends to justify what they have committed and file away a person, just like a sheep on a farm.
Because of actions of such FBI agents and other similar people in power for the last several years the democracy, former glory, image, and the reputation of the United States have been seriously questioned. According to available statistics, for the last several years law enforcement agencies (police, FBI, etc.) have killed 70 and injured 80 people. In none of the cases have the men in uniform been convicted.
Don’t you think that it is time to put an end to this practice and stop this lawlessness, turn your face to the people who voted for you hoping for positive changes?
Far from lecturing you, I am simply sharing my thoughts caused by the grief that came upon my family and as a man whose heart has been ripped out and, in addition, is being trodden to pieces.
The murder of my son is an unprecedented case.
Believe me, Mr. President, that after such an unprecedented, cold-blooded, ruthless and premeditated murder of my son there is no justification for them. Everything is as clear as black and white. Having gotten rid of the witness and not allowing my son to have a legal representative they killed him in an extra-judicial manner.
Did my son know that he had the right to remain silent or did he have rights at all, including the right to live? Being a citizen of another country he might not be aware of the laws as he was only 27 years old and wanted to live so much. No, they left no chances for him inflicting 13 gunshot wounds and multiple hematomas on his body. After what FBI agents have done to him whatever excuses they come up with nobody would believe them because my son is dead and cannot talk for himself. They did it deliberately so that he can never speak and never take part in court hearings. They put pressure on my son’s friends to prevent them from coming to the court and speaking the truth.
I rely on you, Mr. President, and hope that the prosecutor’s office and the court do not let the agencies conducting internal investigation on this case prevent the truth from coming to light so that at least some part of our grief, caused by the murder of our son, is relieved, and that the murderers stand trial instead of sit in their desk chairs.
Dear Mr. President, in addition to all what I have mentioned above, I enclose factual evidences.
If you have time to listen to me and give me your consent to meet you I can come to the United States and provide detailed explanations using factual evidences.
Dear Mr. President, I hope that you, as a guarantor of the U. S. Constitution, pay attention to my letter and those who are guilty in the murder of my son will be justly punished.
With respect and hope,
Father of a murdered son Abdulbaki Todashev
Attachment: 13 (thirteen) photos of the body of my son and his apartment where the murder took place.
