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8.
Afghan Youth’s Request to UN on behalf of humanity
March 12, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Dear Friends of Humanity and Friends of the United Nations,
Man has gone to the Moon but mankind has lost faith in mankind.
For both these reasons and to encourage the world that humanity has retained dignity, we, the youth of Afghanistan, ask for an opportunity to deliver a message of humanity’s love and wishes to the UN Conference on Afghanistan to be held on the 31st of March 2009 in the Netherlands.
We make this bold request because this Conference is about us, the future of Afghanistan and the dream of a kinder humanity.
This is Our Journey to Smile.
Thanks sincerely,
Dr Hakim ( international medical doctor living and working in Bamiyan )
On behalf of the ordinary youth of Afghanistan
On behalf of the ordinary international aid worker
On behalf of ordinary humanity
Paths of Peace?
March 10, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
US open to Afghan Taliban talks
Al Jazeera 09/03/2009
“Yesterday, Mr Obama accepted and approved the path of peace and talks with those Afghan Taliban who he called moderates,” Karzai said during a function in Kabul to mark International Women’s Day on the 8th of March 2009.
Ahmed Shah Ahmedzai, a former prime minister of Afghanistan, said,” The Taliban want to negotiate and tell the Americans and international troops to go out. Through this negotiation, a timetable will be chosen and the other issues regarding foreign troops being in Afghanistan will be discussed and this is the beginning to solve the crisis.”
“War is not the solution in Afghanistan, the only solution is to start the peace proceedings.”
Afghan women say ,” Come pray for peace with justice.”
8th March 2009, International Women’s Day
In 2008, a small group of women in Kandahar, one of the most volatile areas of Afghanistan , came up with a simple but powerful idea: Let’s gather in a public square to pray for peace with justice in Afghanistan .
They began to spread the word to friends and colleagues, and decided to stage the action on March 8 2008, International Women’s Day. Expecting only a few women to show up, more than 1,500 women gathered in Kandahar that day – all with the same goal: to call attention to women’s desire for peace in Afghanistan. The action caught the attention of the international media and women’s groups all over the world.
This year’s International Women’s Day on the 8th of March 2009 saw 12 Afghan women peace leaders from 7 provinces throughout Afghanistan- Kandahar, Kabul ,Jalalabad, Duikundi, Bamiyan, Mazar, and Heart leading a national peace action program, gathering women for an hour at various locations throughout these provinces to pray for peace with justice in Afghanistan.
Afghan women Unite to be present for Peace and call for peace with justice in Afghanistan
March 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Here’s an appeal to show support for peace and justice on March 8th, International Women’s day
Show your support by wearing a BLUE scarf on International Women’s Day, March 8, donating your status to the women of Afghanistan ( *YOU* stands with the women of Afghanistan in calling for peace with justice).
Here’s the background:
In 2008, a small group of women in Kandahar , one of the most volatile areas of Afghanistan , came up with a simple but powerful idea: Let’s gather in a public square to pray for peace with justice in Afghanistan .
They began to spread the word to friends and colleagues, and decided to stage the action on March 8, International Women’s Day. Expecting only a few women to show up, more than 1,500 women gathered in Kandahar that day – all with the same goal: to call attention to women’s desire for peace in Afghanistan. The action caught the attention of the international media and women’s groups all over the world.
This year, on March 8th the action is being led by 12 Afghan women peace leaders from 7 provinces throughout Afghanistan- Kandahar, Kabul , Jalalabad, Duikundi, Bamiyan, Mazar, and Herat . In each province, an experienced leader has been paired with a young emerging leader as a means to build bridges between generations; a focus to the future.
This is the first coordinated Afghan women-led and women-owned national peace action of its size and scope since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
While asking women to come out of their homes is a provocative and dangerous act in many parts of Afghanistan , THOUSANDS of women are expected to turn out across Afghanistan – all wearing a sky-blue scarf to highlight unity and solidarity – across generations, languages, geographic locations, ethnic identity and tribal affiliations. The sky-blue scarf symbolizes the immense possibility of a clear and open sky.
The action will also be supported by radio messages of solidarity from cross border women’s rights activists, as a demonstration that women stand united in the call for peace with justice, but also to highlight that the Afghanistan conflict must seek a regional solution.
On 8 March, we congratulate all women of the world, and in particular we show our solidarity with the women of Afghanistan , who are present today praying for peace with justice.
For more information on the action contact: p4p.withjustice@gmail.com
WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO:
GLOBAL ACTION
*** ON MARCH 8 WEAR A SKY BLUE SCARF IN SOLIDARITY
**** Spread the message WIDELY, invite everyone you know to wear a blue scarf to show support.
** Organize an event in your community to recognize this peace action and post the info here on the event page. Create your own local facebook group to coordinate events in your area.
*** Have a conversation about the importance of women having a voice, about the role of women in the decision-making process.
IMAGINE the possibilities.
*** Post to your blog or post on your favorite blogs about the event. If you’re a reporter, write about it – Afghan women deserve a voice too.
Please spread the word about this action – and women’s desire to participate as full partners for peace with justice in Afghanistan – and wear a sky-blue scarf on 8 March 2009 as a sign of your support and a symbol that, when women stand together, the possibilities are as endless as a clear and open sky.
Wazhma Frogh
Gender & Development Specialist and Human Rights Activist
Chairperson of Interagency Gender Forum
Afghanistan
Where is the Afghan Human Person in a meeting on Afghanistan??
March 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Clinton Pushes for Afghan Meeting
BBC 06/03/2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a high-level conference on Afghanistan at the end of March.
Solutions to the situation in Afghanistan can only be found if the countries involved, including Iran, meet, she said.
‘Bad soldiers’ OR ‘humane humans’??
March 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Conscientious Objector Aidan Delgado a ‘bad soldier’?
The soldiers who can no longer fight
BBC 05/03/2009
Hundreds of US armed forces personnel have applied for conscientious objector status since the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 – and military rights’ campaigners say the number is growing.
Dreams of Peace which even the ‘best’ of humans cannot fulfill??
March 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Chasing dreams of future peace
BBC 05/03/2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has backed a two-state solution – but is time running out?
Palestinians find it easy now to ignore politicians when they talk about peace, because they have heard it so many times before.
How long more will America and the world be ‘un-democratic’?, ‘un-Christian’ and ‘un-Islamic’ with regards to war and peace??
March 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
How long more will America and the world be ‘un-democratic’, ‘un-Christian’ and ‘un-Islamic’ with regards to war and peace?
How long more?
How long more will humanity quench her conscience in defending an eye-for-an-eye , power-hungry, and money-driven killing industries, while untenably holding on to her inhumane disguises of democracy and religion?
Putting Afghan arms down?
Al Jazeera 28/2/2009
Negotiations are under way between Taliban-linked mediators, Western officials and the Afghan government.
Patricia Degennaro, a professor at the Centre for Global Affairs at New York University, told Al Jazeera the talks were a central part of attempts to end the conflict.
“It’s long overdue that there is some kind of jirga, or regional council in Afghanistan, where some of these parties who have had grievances over the years are brought together.
“They need to start talking to each other and move forward so people can start putting their arms down.”
Putting American arms down?
From Al Jazeera 28/2/2009 and Obama’s address to Congress
“For too long our budget has not held true about how our tax dollars are spent,” Obama said.”Large sums held off the budget, including the true cost of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price. “
“We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war.
And with our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism. Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away.”
“The military industrial complex has become embedded in American life,” said John Pike, a US defence expert. “It seems normal and there aren’t strong voices, countervailing constituencies arguing against it.”
Moustaffa from Afghanistan commented on this in Al Jazeera , “The problem with America and it’s like’s never learn from the lesson’s of history. What did America learn from the unjust war it waged in Vietnam? It cost them billion’s of dollar’s and in the end left humiliated. Now they thought would be diffirent because were more powerfull and sophisticated, so they waged an unjust war in Iraq and Afghanistan. So now once again , they are spending trilions and they are achieving nothing except defeat and humiliation.”
US democratic in resisting Karzai poll date call?
BBC 1/3/2009
The US has reiterated it prefers an August date for presidential elections in Afghanistan, despite President Hamid Karzai’s call for polls on 21 April 09.
Boy in Gaza strip during Israli Blockade of coastal Territory
March 6, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
An animator of the celebrated Israeli war film “Waltz with Bashir” has illustrated a new film depicting the life of a fictional boy in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli blockade of the coastal territory.
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Yoni Goodman’s short film “Closed Zone” runs only a minute and a half and was created for the NGO Gisha, a group devoted to freedom of movement.
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A spokesman for Gisha said that “though the use of a single animated character, Goodman tries to cause the viewer to feel empathy for the people of Gaza and see them as they are – a million and a half people who only want to live out their ambitions and dreams, something they cannot do because of their ability to move freely.”
***
Goodman said that when making the film, “it was very important for me to create a character that anyone can connect to. I hope that when people see the movie, they will be able to detach themselves from the automatic view of good or bad. “People talk about Hamas, but there are many civilians there who are not Hamas supporters but who are suffering from this blockade,” Goodman added. http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/10686…