Linked with Must He Die? Meet A Muslim Dissident, with Choudhury speach to IFLAC’s writers’ symposium,
and with BLiTZ (the english online Version).

SALAH UDDIN SHOAIB CHOUDHURY is EDITOR & PUBLISHER of BLiTZ, THE ONLY ANTI-JIHADIST NEWSPAPER in Bangladesh.

His country wants to hang him, and this could happen within the next few months. Sallah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is a Bangladeshi journalist, publisher and peace activist who has left the fold of Jew hatred and Muslim supremacy that is infecting his country in recent years. For that, he is accused of ‘crimes against humanity’ and ‘hurting the image of Islam’ … (full text, August 14, 2008).

… Mr. Choudhury, who calls himself a “Muslim Zionist,” was arrested in Nov 2003 at the Dhaka airport for the “crime” of responding to an invitation to travel to Israel to address the Hebrew Writers Association on the subject of peaceful relations between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East. Mr. Choudhury was charged with blasphemy, sedition, treason, and espionage on behalf of Israel, any one of which is punishable by death in Bangladesh … (full text, August 20, 2008).

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Sallah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury - Bangladesh

Irwin Cotler Joins Shoab Choudhury’s Defence, December 08, 2006).

… Choudhury’s aborted speech needs to be read (on Interfaith Strength). In passionate yet surprisingly serene tones, he confronts the irrational hatred primarily directed against Jews and Israel that is inflaming the Muslim world, including its semi-religious belief in Holocaust Denial.  Choudhury commends Israel’s democracy and progress, and proposes creating what he calls a Culture of peace’ with justice and tolerance for all people as opposed to the culture of death. His stated mission is to take personal responsibility to break down the firewall of lies and ignorance that separate one people from another, using his talents as a writer and publisher.  Are you hearing echoes of Reagan’s famous command, Tear down this wall. You should … (full text, Aug 13, 2008).

Tackling the global fertilizer crisis, Aug 24, 2008.

He fired the first salvo in 2003 and has been sticking his thumb in Islamist eyes ever since.  Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury describes himself as a “Muslim Zionist.” He is unabashedly pro-US, pro-Israel, and anti-Islamist. More importantly, he remains all of that from within the Muslim world, which he refuses to leave.  I have fielded any number of asylum requests for him, and he declined them all.  Retreat is not in my vocabulary,” he says, for he believes that if he were to leave his country, his credibility would be gone, and Islamists would claim victory; a satisfaction he refuses to give them.  “Bangladesh is my country,” he says.  “Let the radicals leave!” … (full text).

Bangladesh’s Consolation Prize Dead in the Water, Aug 20, 2008.

Un journaliste bangladeshi accusé de “crime contre l’humanité” pour dénoncer le suprématisme musulman, 19 août 2008: Son pays veut le pendre, ce qui pourrait se produire d’ici quelques mois. Sallah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury est un journaliste, un éditeur et un activiste pour la paix qui a renoncé à la haine des Juifs et au suprématisme musulman qui infecte son pays depuis ces dernières années. Cela lui vaut d’être accusé de ‘crimes contre l’humanité’ et de ‘ternir l’image de l’islam’ … (texte entier, 19 août 2008).

Pro-Israel editor goes on trial in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh authorities have violated both their international undertakings and their own domestic constitution – Irwin Cotler, MP, Aug 20, 2008.

Repeal Bangladesh’s Racist Vested Property Act, Aug 01, 2008.

Despite promises, Bangladesh authothorities have not stopped the “judicial” process against freedom fighter journalist Salahuddin Shoaib Choudhoury, who angered them because of his opposition to Islamist extremism and his support for Israel. Lacking evidence, the government has dragged the process out for several years with endless continuations and a never-ending supply of new court dates … (full text, March 12, 2008).

Time to change old attitude, July 24, 2008.

The kafkaesque trial of Bangladesh dissident Sallah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury continues, March 12, 2008.

… Shoaib Choudhury has written a number of books in Bangla and English. His latest book Injustice & Jihad was published in October 2007. In May 2008, Italian publication house Neftasia has published Choudhury’s book titled ‘Non Sono Colpevole’ in Italian. This is the first book of any contemporary Bangladeshi journalist translated into Italian. Choudhury opened a branch of the Israel-based International Forum for Literature and Culture of Peace. He wrote about the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh and has written articles critical of anti-Israeli and antisemitic attitudes in Muslim-majority countries. Choudhury is an Advisory Board Member of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, a group co-founded by Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi. PEN USA gave their freedom to Write Award in 2005 in recognition of his commitment to courageous journalism under extreme adversity. The American Jewish Committee presented its Moral Courage Award to him in May 2006, but the Bangladesh government prevented him from visiting the United States to receive the honor. HRH Prince Albert of Monaco awarded the 2007 Monaco Media Award to Choudhury for outstanding courage and commitment in confronting the culture of religious hatred. Choudhury also received the Key to Englewood, (New Jersey), USA from Mayor Michael Wildes. Choudhury is facing charges of sedition, treason, blasphemy and espionage since January 2004 for having tried to attend a conference of the Hebrew Writers’ Association in Tel Aviv. He violated the Passport Act, by attempting to travel to Israel in November 2003. The Act forbids citizens from visiting countries with which Bangladesh does not maintain diplomatic relations, usually punishable by a fine of $8. It may be mentioned here that, Bangladesh presently does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and Israel. But, travel ban on Taiwan was silently lifted while people started business with Taiwan even when Bangladesh had travel ban on that country … (full long text).

Find his name on Google Group-search; Google Book-search; Google Scholar-search; on Google Blog-search: as Sallah … ,  and as Salah … .

… Choudhury is almost stoic at times.  “You get used to it,” he said.  But not complacent.  When his younger brother, Sohail Choudhury, called him to report the “Sohel” incident, the senior Choudhury sent text messages to the police and members of the government; and to the Daily Manabzamin.  He also called his own newspaper, Weekly Blitz, and asked one his staff, Rana Masud, to get to the bottom of the matter since Masud’s brother is a senior journalist with Manabzamin.  That newspaper confirmed that it employs no one named Sohel and in any event did not send anyone to the Choudhury home. Indian Conservatives Struggle to Build Alternate Media, … (full text, Aug 02, 2008).

… Masud then called the phone number that Sohel left, and the latter admitted that he lied when he said he worked for Manabzamin.  He said that he actually worked but for Daily Aparashkantha, “an underground newspaper known for blackmailing people,” according to Choudhury.
Masud asked , “Why did you go to Choudhury’s residence? Why did you take video footage?”
Sohel:  “Ask Choudhury to call Aparadhkantha editor Rashedul Hassan. Choudhury owes 100,000 Taka [roughly $1,500 US] to Rashed.”
Masud: “100,000 Taka? No it is false. Rashed came to our office in April and asked for TK. 1 million as ‘loan.’ But Mr. Choudhury declined to give such loan. Why you are trying to put false pressure to extract money from us?”
Sohel: “Ask Choudhury to call Rashed and settle the matter.” Roughly translated as “Crime Voice,” Aparashkantha had been running screaming front page headlines about Shoaib’s trial since its start the day before.  The headlined and accompanying articles were sensationalistic and urged that “the Zionist spy” be convicted of sedition, treason, and blasphemy.  The paper was now demanding that Choudhury provide a payoff of 100,000 Bangladeshi Taka, roughly $1500 in US currency to Rashed.
Choudhury has filed a formal complaint about the incident with the Dhaka police, but so far has received no response.  Aparashkantha is rumored to have ties with both organized crime and the government’s paramilitary group, Rapid Action Battalion.  When I spoke with representatives of the Bangladeshi government, who wish to remain anonymous, they reminded me that this is essentially a criminal matter (unless Choudhury also wants to press a civil suit) and not the province of the central government.  They did assure me, however, that they would look into the matter nonetheless … (full long text, August 20, 2008).

links:

What may happen before 12/24? July 24, 2008;

Editor pro Israel en Bangladesh podría ser condenado a muerte, Aug 10, 2008.

Holt Ruffin is the founder and executive director of the Civil Society International. “He is a graduate of Stanford University (BA, 1966) and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University (MPA, 1975). Mr. Ruffin’s work experience includes six years in the Economics/Policy Research Department of Bank of America and in the International Division of Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco. Articles by Mr. Ruffin have appeared in the Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Freedom Review, Money Manager, Crisis, and other publications. Most recently, he was lead editor or author of The Post-Soviet Handbook: A Guide to Grassroots Organizations (revised edition, 1999), Civil Society in Central Asia (1999, co-edited with Daniel Waugh), and Internet Resources for Eurasia (2001). The Post-Soviet Handbook and Civil Society in Central Asia were each co-published with the University of Washington Press. “Mr. Ruffin was a short-term research fellow at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, in 2000; he also participated in a six-week seminar on the theme of civil society, held at Boston University under the leadership of Dr. Peter Berger in 1994 … (full text).

… At present, Mr. Ruffin is guiding CSI through the process of expanding its focus to countries where democracy and civil society are most repressed. He received an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs at Princeton University in 1975, and a B.A. in Political Philosophy and Modern History from Stanford University in 1966. Colleagues comment that Mr. Ruffin is someone with “perseverance and ability to hold a vision” who “provides leadership that brings practical results.” His proposed project is “The Globalization of Philanthropy”. (full text).

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Holt Ruffin - USA

download: The Globalization of American Philantrophy, 48 pages, Oct. 2003.

The Global Review of Ethnopolitics, 2 pages, March 2003.

The Who’s Who in International Organizations, Volume 6, published by the Union of International Associations.

The Post-Soviet Handbook: A Guide to Grassroots Organizations and Internet Resources in the Newly Independent States, April 1996, 392 pages; also on Arrowbead Library System.

Book-Review: Civil Society in Central Asia, 331 pages, ISBN: 0-295-97795-7:

• - … with the insights of individuals who have been on the front lines of the struggle for civil society in Central Asia itself–representatives of organizations such as Counterpart, Internews, and the Kazakstan International Bureau for Human Rights. Topics addressed are as diverse as the legal framework for independent associational activity, grassroots movements for environmental protection, the resurgence of Islam and the viability of the Soviet-era collective farms. A 75-page appendix provides a guide to many of the most significant projects being carried out by local and international NGOs in the region. M. Holt Ruffin is executive director of Center for Civil Society International, based in Seattle, and Daniel C. Waugh is Associate Professor of History and International Studies, University of Washington. A co-publication of Center for Civil Society International and the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. (full text).
• - on Googles download book (display will be limited);
• - REVIEWED BY AMYN B. SAJOO, 6 pdf-pages;
• - by UW Press;
• - listen the audio: OSI Forum: Whither Civil Society in Central Asia? September 28, 2005 in NY.

Find him and his publications on amazon; on Barnes and Noble; on allbookstores.com; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search.

… This time, the American co-chairman of the conference, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Society International (Seattle, WA) Holt Ruffin stressed the amazing pace with which Russian printed media have developed their home pages on the Internet. There were about two hundred Russian Web newspapers and magazines from across the country on the list disseminated among the participants. At the time of the first conference, the Web-version of the Ural’s largest regional newspaper Uralskii Rabochii (http://ur.etel.ru/) didn’t exist. Now the paper and the head of its computer department, Alexander Kenin, hosted the conference at the new Internet lab of the Urals university … (full text).

… Thanks also to Holt Ruffin and Richard Upjohn of the Center for Civil Studies International at the University of Washington for writing an extensive feature on this site in their newsletter … (full text).

links:

EurasiaNet Civil Society - Central Asia: NGOs Helping To Develop Civil Society;

Carnegie Corporation of New York, Publications and Multimedia 2007;

CESWW;

Material on Russian Federation Law in English: Selection of Sources;

the book: Civil Society in the Muslim World;

Uzbekistan: Civil Society in the Heartland.

James Petras is a retired Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, SUNY, New York, U.S., and adjunct professor at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who has published prolifically on Latin American and Middle Eastern political issues … (full text).

… He’s also a prolific author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including his newest due out in late August: “Zionism, Militarism, and the Decline of US Power” to be discussed on a future program. Petras writes extensively on the Middle East, the power of the Israeli Lobby, and the possibility of war on Iran to be discussed during the hour … (full text).

He argues: … “The use of paramilitary death squads promoted/financed and protected by the Uribe regime to murder and ‘disappear’ popular leaders serves several strategic political goals” … (full text, Aug. 22, 2008).

The James Petras webwsite. (his essays are available there also in spanish).

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James Petras - USA

James Petras speech at ‘Axis for Peace 2005′ conference,  11.51 min, Nov 18, 2005.

… ‘Ammunition’ for imperialists? Petras charges that “the effect of Castro’s anti-FARC articles has been to provide ammunition for the imperial mass media to discredit the FARC.” He attempts to answer the Cuban leader by presenting a glorified picture of the guerrilla group. “Marulanda’s prolonged guerrilla war strategy relied on mass grassroots organizing based on close peasant ties with guerrillas, based on community, family and class solidarity, building slowly and methodically a national political-military people’s army,” Petras writes, whereas “Castro’s guerrillas were recruited from the mass of urban mass organizations, methodically organized prior to and during the formation of the guerrilla foco in 1956-1958.” “Marulanda built, over a period of 40 years, a bigger guerrilla army with a wider mass base than any Castro-inspired guerrilla force from the 1960s to 2000,” he says … (full text, August 25, 2008).

Inflation and the Spectre of World Revolution, Aug. 06, 2008.

His Bio on flickr.com.

Colombia, Laboratory of Witches: Democracy and State Terrorism, Aug 12, 2008.

… Presidential candidates competed with each other in swearing their total and unconditional servility to Israel, swearing their utmost to back any and all past, present and future Israeli military attacks. Hillary Clinton promised to implement the equivalent of twelve holocausts against Iran’s 70 million citizens in her rant to ‘obliterate Iran’ if it endangered Israel. Obama backed the ultra-orthodox Jewish demand to give Israel sole control over Jerusalem, and joined John McCain and Clinton in promising to bomb Iran if it continued its uranium enrichment program (which they equated with a nuclear weapon – despite the objections of the IAEA and the US intelligence community) … (full text).

Racism and Genocide: Lies of Our Times, Aug 06, 2008.

China Bashing and the Loss of US Competitiveness, Oct 22, 2005.

Stephen Lendman’s review of his book: The Power of Israel in the United States, Oct 29, 2006.

He write also: By the early 1980s the more perceptive sectors of the neoliberal ruling classes realized that their policies were polarizing the society and provoking large-scale social discontent. Neoliberal politicians began to finance and promote a parallel strategy “from below,” the promotion of “grassroots” organization with an “anti-statist” ideology to intervene among potentially conflictory classes, to create a “social cushion” … // … Conclusion: The managers of NGOs have become skilled in designing projects. They transmit the new rhetoric of “identity” and “globalism” into the popular movements. Their activities and texts promote international cooperation, self-help, micro-enterprises, and forge ideological bonds with the neoliberals while forcing people into economic dependency on external donors. After a decade of NGO activity these professionals have “depoliticized” and de-radicalized whole areas of social life: women, neighborhoods, and youth organizations. In Peru and Chile, where the NGO’s have become firmly established, the radical social movements have declined … (full text, December 1997).

Find him and his publications on ; on ; on wikipedia; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

Many respected and distinguished university professors have expressed significant criticism of the 9/11 Commission Report. A number even allege government complicity in the terrorist acts of 9/11. Below are the highly revealing public statements on this vital topic of over 100 university professors with links for verification and further investigation … (scroll down to) James Petras: Bartle Professor Emeritus … Essay 4/6/03: “… Al Queda as an effective international terrorist organization never existed - nor has it even come into existence under conditions of maximum Western terrorist assault on a Muslim population. The idea of an ‘international terrorist conspiracy’ was completely fabricated by Washington and embellished by the empty bellicose rhetoric of Bin Laden, a leader without a following, a leader created by the mass media, a leader incapable of directing a single operative terrorist attack. If there is no evidence of the operative existence of Al Queda, and if Bin Laden has no effective following, it is clear there never was any terrorist conspiracy. The idea was fabricated by Washington to justify previous plans designed by Wolfowitz and Perle (1992, 1998) to conquer the Middle East. The fact that the ‘worldwide terrorist conspiracy’ is a clear fabrication, raises fundamental questions about the event which triggered the US drive for military conquest - 9/11 … (full text, not dated).

links:

No hay que despreciar la lógica de partir de las luchas sociales cotidianas hacia las luchas por el poder político;

The Project For A New American Humanitarianism, Olympian Ambitions from Darfur to Tibet and Beijing, by Michael Barker, Aug. 25, 2008;

Vignettes of the Public Service, The Coconut Industry, 16 Aug 2008;

A video with Amy Goodman, 41.11 min, June 06, 2008;

What are Iran’s Option? July 30, 2008;

War with Iran - On, Off or Undecided? 17 August 2008;

James Petras y sus ocho lecturas torcidas de Fidel, 6 Aug 2008;

The Continuity of FARC-EP Resistance in Colombia, Aug. 01, 2008.

… His several books traverse anthropology, natural history and cultural geography. They include A Death Feast in Dimlahamid, This Ragged Place and The Last Great Sea: A Human and Natural History of the North Pacific Ocean. His latest book is Waiting for the Macaws (and Other Stories from the Age of Extinctions), which argues that environmentalism is inadequate to the task of accounting for the global vanishing of animals, plants and languages. Terry is the editor of Transmontanus, an imprint of New Star Books; he teaches part-time at the University of British Columbia … (full text).

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Terry Glavin - Canada

His blog: Terry Clavin, Chronicles and Dissent.

A Day In The Life of Tylere Couture: Soldier, Activist, And Fellow CASC Member, July 11, 2008; followed by ‘An Excellent Sad Post from Terry Glavin’: Terry Glavin’s frustrations with former allies gets some pretty clear expression in this post … (full text, Aug 13, 2008).

The video: Terry Glavin-Waiting for the Macaws-author interview, 6.27 min, Feb 28, 2007.

Audio-Interview with Terry Glavin, April 13, 2006 (click on listen).

He writes: To say what we think without fear of repercussion, to walk down the streets without fear … it is our responsibility to spread this freedom all around us, and around the world. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, Canada Day, 2007 Nikolai Tsyrempilov can’t say what he thinks without fear of repercussion. He can’t walk down the street without fear. He would like Canada, and other western democracies, to do something about it. I recently met Mr. Tsyrempilov in Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryatia, an impoverished Russian republic of about a million people that shares a border, a language, a Buddhist heritage and a great deal of history with Mongolia … (full text, July 12, 2007).

Inside The Cult That Runs The “Mobilization Against War and Occupation”: Part II, February 07, 2008.

He writes also: Things started at a July 18 demonstration in Montreal, when a small group of young Lebanese showed up with a sign that read “Peace for Lebanon and Israel”. They were shouted at and shoved around and driven off. Their sign was torn up. The event then proceeded, with people carrying placards that bore the flag of the fascist organization Hezbollah and pictures of Hezbollah’s rabidly anti-Semitic leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Before the month was out, you could fairly mark July 2006 as one of the most squalid months in the history of the “left” in Canada … (full text, August 3, 2006).

Canadian Member of Parliament “medal” for Terry Glavin, May 13, 2008.

He knows: “We have figured out ways to colonize every ecological niche on earth. We will survive. So there’s hope”, (in The Lost & Left Behind).

Photos from Day 20, Terry Glavin + Fred Bass speak to CUPE 391 Vancouver City Library Workers Strike, (Photos taken on 01 jan 1980).

He claims: We are living in a time of loss, claims Canadian journalist Terry Glavin. A ‘sixth great extinction’ is upon us, during which one animal species perishes every 10 minutes. Languages and traditions are also disappearing fast. Glavin discusses this bleak picture at Millers Academy of Arts and Science on 22 October. The talk is not without optimism, however, as Glavin ‘uncovers the hidden story of a long human struggle to conserve the living things in the world, and finds hope in unexpected places’. (on talks of the town, Oct. 22, 2007).

Does our library know there’s another word for anti-Semitism? February 12, 2008.

Review of Terry Glavin ‘The Lost & Left Behind: stories from the age of extinction’ 2007: This is one of those very few books that sit right in the hand - a few pages in, and the strength of the writing coupled with the clear message of the book, grip a reader, and the synergy of the authors words coursing through the reader has begun. In this case, Glavin, a Canadian journalist, blogger, author and professor of creative writing, has hit on the most urgent topic - extinctions: of species, habitats, languages, tribes, beliefs, stories …. that really should fire up our bellies and get us all responding … (full text, March 23, 2008).

Terry Glavin is in the building, by Jura Watchmaker, 27 October 2007.

Find him and his publications on earthplatform.com; on amazon; on wikipedia /Bibliography; on wikio; on UN jobs; on goodreads; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

links:

The blog: GungHaggisFatChoy, Asian-Canadian adventures … ;

Irwin Cotler Joins Shoaib Choudhury’s Defence, December 8, 2006; l

the blog: Dawg’s Blawg, News, Views and important rumours.

Homepage of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee;

The New “Antifascist”: Far-Right Weirdo, 911 Truther, Self-Ordained Pope, Putschist (with a video), Aug 23, 2008;

George Orwell on wikio;

Sustainable Fisheries, not dated.

See also:

• 110th Congress;
• Judiciary Committee;
• FRC;
• His Political positions;
• His official Senate website;
• His blog;
• His Bio on the US Congress;
• His voting record on the Washington Post;
• Positions and Quotes;
• His profile on Source Watch;
• Interest Group Ratings.

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The Video: Joe is Right, 1.34 Min, added November 16, 2007.

His positions on Civil Rights: See also 20 full quotes on Civil Rights; and background on Civil Rights:

• 1978: opposed busing except for gov’t-intended segregation. (Jul 2007)
• 1968: Wilmington riots failed at conversation between races. (Jul 2007)
• Nobody asks if you’re gay in a foxhole. (Jun 2007)
• Civil unions ok; gay marriage is probably inevitable. (Apr 2007)
• Voted NO on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
• Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
• Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
• Voted YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
• Voted NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
• Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
• Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
• Voted NO on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
• Voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
• Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Issue a commemorative postage stamp of Rosa Parks. (Dec 2005)
• Rated 78% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
• Rated 100% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
• Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment. (Mar 2007).

Joe Biden: The perfect foil for Barack Obama: At first glance Senator Joe Biden looks like the perfect foil for Barack Obama on the Democratic Party ticket, 23 Aug 2008.

Senator urges Guantanamo closure, 6 June, 2005

His expertise in this area could help Senator Obama defend himself against Republican attacks that he is not ready for the role of commander-in-chief … (full text, 23 August 2008).

Joe Biden on Bhutto’s Assassination, 3.34 min, December 27, 2007.

Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware has been asked by Mr Kerry to become Secretary of State in a Democratic administration, according to Kerry campaign aides, October 29, 2004 … (full text, October 29, 2004).

Find him and his publications on Google News-results; on worldcat.org; on wikipedia; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

links:

The Delaware Historical Society;

The University of Delaware Library;

History of the Violence Against Women Act;

Making Connections To End Domestic Violence.

… “She dedicated her life in public service to helping others and will continue to do so through organ donations. Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time” … (full text).

Tributes to Tubbs Jones roll in.

Her Biography: short on the Directory of the US Congress, full long on wikipedia.

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Tubbs Jones - USA (1949 - 2008)

Stephanie Tubbs Jones - Photos and Memories on Ohio daily blog.

… The civil rights and voting rights community has lost a heroine in the fight for equal justice, but her legacy will and must continue. PFAW will honor Rep. Jones in continuing to fight for what she always stood for, equality under the law. We express our deepest condolences especially to her son Mervyn Leroy Jones, II, her family, friends, and colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and throughout Congress. (full text).

• Her official campaign site;
• Jones voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War;
• Votign record;
• Interest groupe ratings;
• Black Biography: Stephanie Tubbs Jones;
• Memories of Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Positions and quotes; Stephanie Tubbs Jones’ voted:

* Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
* Voted NO on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)
* Voted NO on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
* Voted NO on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
* Voted NO on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
* Voted NO on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
* Voted NO on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
* Ending racial profiling is part of fight for justice. (Jan 2001)
* Constitutional Amendment for equal rights by gender. (Mar 2001)
* Rated 92% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
* Issue a commemorative postage stamp of Rosa Parks. (Dec 2005)
* Rated 100% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
* Rated 97% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
* Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment. (Mar 2007)
* Supported legislation on violence against women & safety. (Jul 1999)
* Supported funding for women’s and disadvantaged businesses. (Jul 1999)

Read more on Civil Rights: 16 full quotes on Civil Rights, and background on Civil Rights.

… Tubbs Jones was elected a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1981, and subsequently served on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County from 1983 to 1991. In 1990, she ran for Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio replacing Mary Cacioppo, the winner of the Democratic Primary, who withdrew for health reasons. She narrowly lost that race to Republican incumbent J. Craig Wright. She then served as the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor from 1991 until resigning in early 1999 to take her seat in Congress. She was succeeded as prosecutor by William D. Mason. She then served as the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor from 1991 until resigning in early 1999 to take her seat in Congress. She was succeeded as prosecutor by William D. Mason … … (full long text).

… She was an ardent supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential primary bid, before switching to Sen. Barack Obama in June. Tubbs Jones had been planning to attend next week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver as a superdelegate … (full text).

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) has been named by Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi as the new chair of the House Ethics Committee. Tubbs-Jones served on the panel that wrote the Ethics Committee report on the Foley scandal … (full text, 20 December 2006). See the Committee also on wikipedia.

Find her and her publications on Google News-search for Tubbs Jones’ Death; on Google Video-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Blog-search.

links:

Congresspedia;

Blackpedia: on scratchpad; on shelfia;

House Ethics Committee;

The Video: House Ethics Committee release of Mark Foley report, Pt. 1, 9.07 min, added December 08, 2006, and the Video: Mark Foley report, pt 2, 3.58 min, added December 08, 2006;

Lobbyist parties for lawmakers bend rules;

Conventions blend money, parties, ethics rules;

Where Are the Ethics Hearings into Countrywide’s VIP Loans?

Dennis John Kucinich (born October 8, 1946) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Kucinich currently represents the 10th District of Ohio in the House of Representatives, which he has been serving since 1996. His district includes most of western Cleveland as well as suburbs such as Parma and Cuyahoga Heights. He is currently the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is also a member of the Education and Labor Committee … (full huge long text on wikipedia).

He says on Gun Control:

• “We have babies dying in the streets; ban handguns. (Jul 2007)
• Ban sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns. (Nov 2006)
• Require background checks, licensing, and fingerprinting. (Jan 2004)
• Voted NO on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
• Voted NO on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
• Voted NO on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)
• Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record. (Dec 2003)”.

The video: ALL of Dennis Kucinich’s replies @ 11-15-07 Dem. debate, 8.41 min, Nov 16, 2007.

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Dennis John Kucinich - USA

His Impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney.

His Plan to ban handguns.

Bush Impeachment Articles Introduced.

His website: the page for signing the impeachment petition.
His personal homepage.
His official U.S. House website.

Electoral history of Dennis Kucinich.

The Kucinich Resolution.

He writes on his website: September 10th, the day before the world changed, could be the day WE change the world! Send a history-making message to Congress: 1,000,000 signatures for impeachment. On September 10, 2008, we want to deliver ONE MILLION signatures to Congress urging them to exercise their Constitutional authority and mandate to hold this President - and all future Presidents - accountable. Please sign NOW! And ask everyone you know to sign. The power to change the world is in your hands! His message. The latest Impeachment News.

His Biography on vote smart.

His Plan for Iraq (on wikipedia, the page having been last modified on 21 August 2008, at 01:37): On January 8, 2007 Dennis Kucinich unveiled his comprehensive exit plan to bring the troops home and stabilize Iraq. His plan includes the following steps:

• Announce that the US will end the occupation, close the military bases, and withdraw.
• Announce that existing funds will be used to bring the troops and the necessary equipment home.
• Order a simultaneous return of all US contractors to the US and turn over the contracting work to the Iraqi government.
• Convene a regional conference for developing a security and stabilization force for Iraq.
• Prepare an international security peacekeeping force to replace US troops, who then return home.
• Develop and fund a process of national reconciliation.
• Restart programs for reconstruction and creating jobs for the Iraqi people.
• Provide reparations for the damage that has been done to the lives of Iraqis.
• Assure the political sovereignty of Iraq and ensure that their oil isn’t stolen.
• Repair the Iraqi economy.
• Guarantee economic sovereignty for Iraq.
• Commence an international truth and reconciliation process, which establishes a policy of truth and reconciliation between the people of the US and Iraq.

OnTheIssues: his positions and quotes.

Dennis John Kucinich a Representative from Ohio; born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, October 8, 1946; graduated from St. John Cantius, Cleveland, Ohio, 1964; B.A., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1973; M.A., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1973; member of the Cleveland, Ohio, city council, 1969-1973, 1983; clerk of courts, Cleveland, Ohio, 1975; mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, 1977-1979; member of the Ohio state senate, 1995-1996; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Fifth Congress and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1997-present). (bioguide.congress.gov).

Dennis John Kucinich on dmoz.

Bugliosi & Kucinich on Bush Impeachment.

Find him and his publications on Bio guide congress.gov; on Google News-results; on YouTube.com; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

links:

The Peace Alliance;

Dennis Kucinich posts online impeachment petition, August 19, 2008;

Howey Politics Indiana;

The Bush Loyalty Score: U.S. House.

Sumaiya Khair is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and an Instructor at the Department of Clinical Legal Education Programme. She has a Ph.D. from U.K. and has obtained her LL.B.(Hons.) and LL.M. degrees from the University of Dhaka. She holds executive positions in a couple of University-based research bodies and is also actively associated with other research and advocacy initiatives outside of the University. Her areas of interest and specialisation include human rights, child rights, gender issues and governance. She has written extensively on law, justice and human rights and has to her credit a number of articles and publications in both national and international journals and books. She has also served as a consultant for international and domestic agencies on legal and policy issues. (zoomInfo, Nov. 18, 2007).

Dr. Sumaiya Khair, Department of Law, University of Dhaka, member of the Advisory Council, British Standard School.

She is Researcher on Development Research Center DRC for Migration, Globalisation and Poverty.

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Sorry, no photo found for Sumaiya Khair - Bangladesch

Her book: Child domestic workers in Dhaka city, 2004.

download: Philanthropy and Law in South Asia, Recent Developments in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, prepared by the PALISA group, September 2007, 60 pdf-pages. Same on SSRN, December 2007.

She is Syndicate and Academic Council of the Atish Dipankar University, Dhaka.

She cooperates with biiss.org, and its research projects.

Bibliography: Sumaiya Khair, ‘Taking Children’s Rights Seriously: Areas of Concern’ in Towards Gender Equity, Poverty, Rights and Participation, Report of the Regional Workshop, 15-18 February, Dhaka, 1998; UNICEF, Children of Bangladesh and Their Rights, Dhaka, 1997 (scroll down).

Find her and her publications on pipl; on ; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search.

Chapter 7 in the Google-download book: Reconsidered the employment of the girl child in the Bangladesh garment industry, page 119.

… In addition, she also offers consultancy to various committees commissioned by ILO, and various projects sponsored by UNICEF, The Asia Foundation, CIDA, etc. Dr. Khair has participated in a dialogue on ‘South Asia and the US after the Cold War’, 1994, at Dhaka. (full text).

links:

HPR online, the online site of the harvard political review;

Philanthropy and Law in South Asia: Key Themes and Key Choices, Feb. 2, 2005, also on Univ. of Iowa;

the APPC post;

an ILO workshop (not dated!).

Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born 23 April 1947, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland), also known as Bernadette Devlin and Bernadette McAliskey, is a Socialist republican political activist. She served as a Member of Parliament at Westminster from 1969 to 1974 for the Mid Ulster constituency … (full long text).

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born 1947) was a student at Queen‘s University, Belfast, when the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland took to the streets in 1968. Bernadette became its radical icon and she was elected to the House of Commons in 1969. Having lost that seat in 1974, she campaigned for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger strikers in 1980/81. In recent years, she has opposed the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998 on the grounds that it cemented British rule and Irish partition … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: “Many people who have come through 30 years of struggle have found themselves isolated, disowned at the most personal level. The post revolutionary period has no time for enlightened criticism”.

Read: Chapter 12 from her book: ‘The Price of My Soul’, by Bernadette Devlin (1969).

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Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey - England

She works for the Irish Republican Socialist Party IRSP.

Listen her on this video: Bernadette McAliskey - James Connolly commemoration, 4.58 min, May 23, 2008.

… She was saying jokingly that “between the pomposity of Bew and the extravagance of McCann, I might look like the sane one”. (full text, August 2, 2008).

Find her and her publications on Google Video-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Blog-search.

… Her radical left-wing politics resulted in conviction of incitement to riot in December 1969. She had actively engaged, on the side of the residents, in the ‘Battle of the Bogside’, which is widely marked as the beginning of Northern Ireland’s 30 year “Troubles”. She served a short jail term. After being re-elected in the 1970 general election, Devlin declared that she would sit in Parliament as an Independent Socialist … (full text).

Biography Research Guide.

(1000peacewomen 2/2): … “So, people now want much more than they would happily have settled for. If, instead of beating our heads on 5th October 1968, the government had given us housing and votes, we would probably all have gone home and left it at that,” says Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.

After the murderous ambush on herself and her husband by loyalist killers in 1981, Bernadette understandably does not welcome strangers to her home in the town of Coalisland. It is most surprisingly to see how much she had aged and how careless she had become about her appearance, the girl in the mini skirt who had slapped a British Home Secretary in the House of Commons.

Yet, her sharp and unforgetful analysis of the conflict in Northern Ireland was punctuated by a wry humor and her eyes sparkled like they must have done all that time ago. She still is a formidably foe of all those who have settled comfortably into the status quo. She lamented the British obsession with security legislation and policy at the time and spoke about a government that only understood the language of force. “And people like myself are left bankrupt and are consistently arguing, as we do, that there is some other way.”

She has, therefore, never fully answered the question about her attitude to violence - she would probably say it‘s the wrong question. And so, she has, over the years, mixed with curious people, always searching for political soul mates but rarely finding them. McAliskey was always stronger in her analysis of the past and present than in her expectancies for the future. Because, whereas her own motivation has, over time, clearly become ideological and favorably disposed to the radical left, the guiding forces in Northern Ireland have remained tribal. Today, she has become a marginal, slightly bitter voice, but powerful nonetheless whenever she chooses to speak up. (1000peacewomen 2/2).

McAliskey recalls ’sheer terror’, 15 May, 2001.

… Bernadette found out when she visited the U.S. in the early 1970s that: “I was not very long there until, like water, I found my own level. ‘My people’ — the people who know about oppression, discrimination, prejudice, poverty and the frustration and despair that they produce — were not Irish Americans. They were black, Puerto Rican, Chicano. And those who were supposed to be ‘my people’, the Irish Americans who know about English misrule and the Famine and supported the civil-rights movement at home, and knew that Partition and England were the cause of the problem, looked and sounded to me like Orangemen. They said exactly the same things about blacks that the loyalists said about us at home. In New York, I was given the key to the city by the mayor, an honour not to be sneezed at. I gave it to the Black Panthers” … (full text).

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Barred Entry to the United States, February 22, 2003.

She says also: … “I think there are two perceptions – the perception of me from the outside which sees the north of Ireland as ‘them’ and ‘us’, Catholics and Protestants, and me therefore as part of one side. And then there is the perception here, on the inside, which is more complex and sees me not as Catholic, but rather as a socialist, a feminist and someone who has had nothing to do with the Catholic Church for 30 years except to criticise it. “I’m therefore an outsider and I don’t think it is any accident that I have found myself working with people on the margins.” More complex, too, she says, warming to her theme and carrying you along with her train of thought as once she used to work a crowd, is the now familiar and internationally lauded story of the Peace Process. “There are two peace processes here,” she begins, patiently, “one top down and one bottom up. One which makes all the soundbites and generates all the headlines and one which has been very much overshadowed by the other. There’s the Peace Process that everybody sees – the all-singing, all-dancing one. That’s the big process” … (full long text, 29 July 2007).

Bernadette McAliskey: ‘The oppressor demands loyalty’.

The mother of freed IRA suspect Roisin McAliskey has attacked Germany’s case against her daughter. Roisin McAliskey is wanted in Germany to face charges in connection with an IRA mortar attack on a British army barracks in Osnabruck in 1996. Her mother, Bernadette McAliskey also blamed the collapse of her daughter’s physical and mental health on Roisin’s treatment at the hands of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. She said her daughter’s condition had been caused by the way in which Roisin was imprisoned and questioned, while pregnant, at Castlereagh in Northern Ireland … (full text).

Gunmen shoot civil rights campaigner, January 16, 1981.

… Róisín McAliskey has returned home to her Coalisland home for an emotional Easter reunion with her family after a 16-month detention in British custody. A near-tearful Bernadette McAliskey yesterday said her daughter was “recovering well” from the ordeal while her granddaughter, 10-month-old baby Loinnir, was “in great health”. “They’re both coming along fine. All they want to do is to recover from their experience and get on with their lives,” said the former mid-Ulster MP … (full text, 20 June 2007).

Devlin is ‘very ill’ after shooting, January 17 1981.

links:

the Google-book: Ulster’s White Negroes, 133 pages, 1994;

HRW.org;

;

… His most recent work is in transnational cultural studies, studying in particular various aspects of globalization and alter-globalization social movements. His current book project, Invested Interests: Culture, Capital and the World Bank, develops a cultural critique of the World Bank. The project argues that the Bank must be understood as a cultural institution-an institution that not only affects global cultures, but also one that, given its role in the post-war mapping and remapping of the globe, has been intimately bound up in the construction of “culture” as a theoretical category, and “cultural studies” as an academic discipline. Contrary to assessments of the Bank that figure the institution as a metonymic stand-in for “globalization,” this book reads the Bank as a protean institution that has undergone a series of transformations during its sixty-year history, in which we can see the World Bank maneuvering to contain resistance and manage crises … (full text).

His teachings; his vita; his projects.

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Bret Benjamin - USA

World Bank Literature … Under Control, reading the facts ans FAQs of population control, page 201.

He signs the Open Letter Opposing War in Iraq.

The book: A Guide to On-Line Writing, by Daniel Anderson, Bret Benjamin, and Bill Paredes-Holt. Ed. Allyn and Bacon, 1998.

Find his publications on AddAll; on bookfinder; on amazon.

Book-review - Invested Interests, Capital, Culture, and the World Bank, 304 pages, 2007:

• … by Bret Benjamin:Benjamin maps the (World-) Bank’s contemporary rhetorical maneuvering in the wake of ever-intensifying protests, offering close readings of the World Bank’s corporate literature, the activities of the antiglobalization World Social Forum, and the writings of prominent Bank critic Arundhati Roy, including her novel The God of Small Things. Deftly investigating the World Bank’s ideological struggles over six decades, Invested Interests develops a conceptually and politically nuanced critique of the Bank as a cultural institution deeply enmeshed in the last century’s historical transformations of imperial power and anti-imperial struggle. (full text).
• by Phil Wegner;
• by books xyz; BOOK SYNOPSIS: Despite the World Bank’s profound impact on economic, political, and social conditions during the post–World War II era, cultural critics who rigorously theorize other institutions of colonialism and globalization have largely ignored the institution. Working to correct this blind spot, Bret Benjamin’s Invested Interests presents the first extended cultural analysis of the World Bank … (full text);

World Social Forum Pictures.

He writes: … The open space versus movement debate figures an irresolvable antinomy within the WSF. I recognize the deep appeal of horizontal collectivities and understand that within the WSF there will be inevitable resistance to the merest hint of a party platform delivered from on high. Nevertheless I think many within the WSF would eagerly throw their weight behind a shared political project. To my mind, the Bamako Appeal, with its strong but nuanced anti-capitalist critique, offers an excellent starting point for such a project, particularly if it can be opened for debate and amendment in the ways that CACIM suggests. Patrick Bond’s clear-eyed and persistent calls to build upon the coherent political platforms and expertise of established social movements in the Global South strikes me as a necessary first step for revising Bamako. One hopes, then, that the antimony need not be disabling; that a double vision might yet emerge that is capable of envisioning both totality and particularity, both the ideal of horizontal, non-representational collectivity and the tactical efficacy of mass action. Here the WSF sails in uncharted waters. While it can surely draw inspiration and insight from earlier revolutionary movements — CACIM offers one useful genealogy, from Marx’s Manifesto to Bandung to the Zapatistas — no obvious precedents exist for the WSF’s unique amalgam of conceptual, geographical, organizational, and political ambitiousness. The two-year cycle for international meetings may benefit not only those social movements stretched thin by the burdens of yearly meetings but also the institutionalization of the WSF itself. Longer periods between events may allow for more local collaboration and consultation, avoiding some of the divisions between organizers and local constituents that appear to have marred this year’s meeting in Nairobi … (full text).

links:

Doug Henwood’s radio archives;

Soul Babies;

Writing Skills, an annotated bibliography, part one.

Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (July 22, 1877 – August 1942):

• (he) was a Polish-Jewish children’s author, pediatrician, and child pedagogue, known as Pan Doktor (Mr Doctor) … (the whole wikipedia full text).
• Janusz Korczak Biography: The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak, by Betty Jean Lifton.
• Who was Janusz Korczak?
• He was born in Warsaw in an assimilated Jewish family. His mother Cecylia Głębicka was the daughter of prominent Kalisz Jews and his father Józef Goldszmit was from a family of proponents of the haskalah … (wikipedia /Biography /Russian Empire).
• He is the subject of Andrzej Wajda’s movie Korczak, stage play Korczak’s Children by Jeffrey Hatcher, and the opera Korczak’s Orphans by Adam Silverman (music) and Susan Gubernat (libretto). (wikipedia /Popular culture).
• Pedagogical influence.
• Themes in the children’s books.
• Chronological photographs of Korczak.
• More photos on Holocaust Survivors and Remembrance Project.

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Janusz Korczak alias Henryk Goldszmit - Poland (1877 - 1942)

The video: Story of a Hero, Janusz Korczak … , 3.32 min, Added: May 19, 2007.

A voice for the child.

King of children, July 23, 2008.

From 1911, Janusz Korczak led the orphan house, Dom Sierot. He developed the ideas of a peaceful and classless society. In 1919, he created another children’s house called, Nasz Dom, which means “our house.” Janusz was always fighting for a better community and education for the children. He was a principal for the children houses, a doctor, a publisher of a children’s newspaper, as well as an author. Korczak was also an expert witness in the district court of minors. In this position, he always sided with the children … (full text).

Yad Vashem marks 66 years since the murder of Janusz Korczak and the children, August 6, 2008.

Find him also on the polnish wikipedia; on about.com; on Britannica Online Encyclopedia; on Warsawghetto; as Dr Henryk Goldszmit (Janusz Korczak) 1878-1942; as stamp (scroll down): Dr Henryk Goldszmit (Janusz Korczak) 1878-1942; on Encyclopedia /Henryk Goldszmit; on Science surf; in the book: The King Of Children, as Henryk Goldszmit.

Find him in other languages:

Znak Zorro: dziesięć na dziesięć, August 01, 2008

Rocznica urodzin Korczaka on wiadomosci.onet, 21.07.2008.

Rocznica urodzin Janusza Korczaka on kurierwilenski.lt, July 21, 2008.

WARSZTATY DLA DZIECI I MŁODZIEŻY, July 30, 2008.

Ambitny do bólu - już za miesiąc Festiwal Dialogu Czterech Kultur w nowej formule, August 03, 2008.

„Własna” kultura, August 04, 2008.

Janusz-Korczak- Realschule ging kunterbunt in die Luft, August 11, 2008.

Was Kindern zusteht: 16-bändige Korczak-Edition komplett, August 14, 2008.

Schule mit Auszeit-Raum, August 06, 2008.

Find publications about him on Wiesenthal.com; on polnish wikipedia; on amazon; on Google Images-search; on wikipedia /selected writings; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

links:

Janusz Korczak International News;

Janusz Korczak Communication Center in german, with a link to polish site (russian and english may work later);

Ojemba Productions presents KORCZAK at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2005;

Korczak’s Orphans opera by Adam Silverman and Susan Gubernat;

I’m small, but important, the German Documentary by Walther Petri and Konrad Weiss;

The Janusz Korczak Living Heritage Association;

Obama Dons Yarmulke at Yad Vashem; Peres Praises His “Moving Humanity”, July 23, 2008;

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama pauses during a ceremony in Janusz Korczak Square at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, July 23, 2008 (script under photo).

Having suffered Stalin’s deportation of the Chechen people to Central Asia, Maya Shovkhalova (born 1936) returned to Grozny in 1958. She graduated from the Tbilisi Music Conservatory. In the 1990s, she was a member of the Commission on Rehabilitation of Victims of the 1944-1956 Repressions in Chechnya. Since the beginning of the Russian-Chechen armed conflict, Maya has been engaged in anti-war activism, cooperating with international as well as Russian NGOs. She is also head of the NGO Iberia which focuses on the issues of demining and banning of land mines … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: “We condemn acts of terrorism irrespectively of whether they are committed by groups of bandits or by the Russian military.” (From the appeal of Chechen peace advocates to the world community)

She is signing the Public Appeal of Chechen NGOs of Prague Watchdog, 29th 2003,
… and here the appeal on Kafkas Vakfi.

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Sorry, no photo found of Maya Shovkhalova - Russian Federation

She works for Iberia, and for Yaltinskaya initsyativa za mir v Chechnie YIMC.

Maya Shovhalova was born in Grozny in 1936. Having suffered Stalin’s deportation of the Chechen people to Kazakhstan, Maya returned to Grozny in 1958. After graduating from Tbilisi Music Conservatory (Georgia), she worked as a soloist at the theater and the Philharmonic Hall in Grozny. For some time she was engaged in teaching. She was a member of the Commission on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions in Chechnya during 1944-1956. Since the beginning of the Russian-Chechen armed conflict Maya has been taking an active part in human rights advocacy activities.

In February 1944, during the deportation of all the Chechens and Ingushs to Central Asia, staged by the Soviet regime, a horrible tragedy happened: 700 inhabitants of Khaibakh, a high mountain Chechen village, were burnt alive in the building of the local club by a Soviet punitive detachment.

It was not until the 1990s that this barbarous act was investigated. Maya Shovkhalova took an active part in the work of the Investigation Commission on Khaibakh events that made public this and other crimes against humanity at the time of Stalin’s repressions.

The beginning of democratic changes in the Soviet Union and the committed work of human rights activists who revealed the crimes of the communist regime gave hope that such tragedies would never be repeated. But hopes were dashed by the following developments which resulted in the Russian-Chechen armed conflict. During the first military campaign Maya helped the wounded, took part in negotiations between the Chechen president Dudaev’s representatives and the Russian soldiers’ mothers who wanted to return their sons back home. Unfortunately all the efforts of the peace advocates failed to stop the savage war.

Despite all this Maya has succeeded in making her contribution to informing the world community about the genocide of her people during the two Russian-Chechen wars from 1994 to 2004. She continues her diverse and multiple human rights advocacy

activities, cooperating with the all-Russian anti-war NGOs. Thanks to her and her colleagues’ work, a great number of people all over the world have learned about the real state of affairs in Chechnya, about everyday violations of the most fundamental human rights, and the concealed cases of mass killings of civilians.

She participated in the Peace March Moscow-Grozny (March 1995), in the Peace March held in Italy on UN 50th Anniversary, and the international action “Peace Train”.

After the Nord-Ost tragedy Maya enrolled in the Coalition of Chechen and Russian Non-Governmental Organizations “Yaltinskaya initsyativa za mir v Chechnie” (“Yalta Initiative for Peace in Chechnya”).

Within the framework of the Initiative Shovhalova took part in organizing the contest of children’s drawings “Give Us Peace Back!” Maya cooperated with the All-Russian Human Rights NGO “Memorial”. Since 1997 she has been engaged in the projects of the International Organization ICBL, which focuses its activities on the ban of the use of land mines. Maya is the head of the NGO “Iberia”, members of which work on the mine security on the territory of the Chechen Republic. (1000peacewomen 2/2).

Sorry, no other information found for Maya Shovkhalova, Russian Federation.

links:

download: Chechnya - War and History, by the German-Caucasian Society, 58 pdf-pages;

Peacewomen across the globe;

a website in Japanese; and the same website in russian.

Nilda Estigarribia grew up fighting against the abuses committed by the Paraguayan military dictatorship led by General Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). She was part of the only organization for the defense of human rights to exist during that period. She was under observation by the military forces. Several times, she escaped becoming a victim of repression. She was constantly banging on the doors of police stations and jail cells to find and assist torture victims. The Dictatorship ended–but her activism did not. There are still many tasks pending … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: “During the dictatorship, torture had its most visible identification in men, while the faces of women were evidenced for giving humanitarian assistance in prisons, hospitals and cemeteries.

She is mentionned as Political Heroe.

Las pantallas del poder. (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos) (TT: Screens of power.)(TA: Human rights comission).

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Nilda Estigarribia - Paraguay

She works for Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos CONADEH.

… “When I was 13 years old I escaped through the roofs and I jumped over the walls slipping away from the repressive police of that time”. Thus said Nilda Estigarribia, who was born and grew up in Paraguay. The memories referred to are from the time of the military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). Nilda was then a militant member of the Youth Section of the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA), known as the “Avalón Club“. The experience of seeing her companions taken by the police and returned having been tortured had a decisive influence on her in her untiring fight for the defence of human rights.

She was born in the rural community of Natalicio Talavera, a jurisdiction in the administrative district of Guaira. Nilda had a happy childhood. She was born the middle child of nine brothers and sisters under the discipline of a father who instilled into her the value of honesty and dedication to work. As an adolescent that gave her the security she needed to enter the Youth Organization.

“We used to arrange clandestine meetings in cellars, inner patios and family houses, fearing that the repressive forces would come at any moment. We distributed pamphlets, painted murals on the walls of the streets and we slipped into schools and universities to make denunciations and we had to do it quickly, to erase all traces as soon as possible”.

At that time she got to know Doña Coca - Carmen Lara de Castro -, from whom she learned ways to approach and to defend the rights of the most needy people in society.

“When some political leader, farmer or unionist was caught by the police, Doña Coca and I, as an eternal couple, went into the police stations and the jails offering food, water and medicines or whatever we had, to the victims”. With Coca, she came to understand that to defend human rights in a society dominated by a totalitarian government was not an easy or sensible activity. Instead it was an adventure where they were frequently venturing into the jaws of death. “In spite of everything, I was never scared, nor do I regret what I did”.

In 1966 Nilda obtained a medical degree. During the first year she did her practice periods in public hospitals in the Paraguayan inland where she met the real poverty suffered by the population living far from the metropolis. But it was the period when she worked as medical resident in the Hospital of Clinics in Asunción, the capital city of the country, that gave her the possibility of openly expressing her discord with the repressive state. Along with a group formed by doctors, nurses and students of medicine, she made public denunciations and confronted the repressive organs of the State.

“I remember in 1968 when the students arranged a meeting to replace the authorities of the Students Medical Centre in the Hospital of Clinics. As I was a resident in that hospital, I participated”.

The assembly became a place to denounce the sad situation that was affecting the locality and all of the country. An infiltrater informed on the meeting to the police, who broke into the patio of the hospital. The repression was very severe, with tear gas and physical assaults. Many were imprisoned and the majority fled any way they could. I took an omnibus that dropped me three blocks from my house “. She got a big surprise when she found her brothers at the bus station carrying some clothes so she could disguise herself and flee. The police had already been looking for her at their house. “I disguised myself as an old woman and in that way I managed to flee. I lived hidden for months, sheltering in the houses of friends and relatives”.

When she was 30 years old she served actively on the management of the PLRA, combining her position in this party with activities in the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Paraguay.

Denunciations of different violations could be channeled through this commission. Nilda, like all the people who were part of it, was always under observation by the Dictatorship. The best option was to operate semi clandestinely.

Nilda makes a gender-based observation based on her experience: “During the dictatorship, torture had its most visible identification in men, while the face of women was most evident giving humanitarian assistance in cells, prisons, hospitals and cemeteries”. We were few, but at the same time many. Many mothers, sisters, daughters and spouses delegated to us the task of taking messages and food to the prisoners “.

With the fall of Stroessner, new winds blew. Democracy, with social justice appeared to be a possibility. However, the violation of human rights merely changed the way it was expressed. While she was part of the leadership of the PLRA, the opportunity arose to be a candidate in the elections for the Senate. She was elected as a member of Parliament by popular vote for the period 1993-1998. Her performance was outstanding.

She fought for larger budgets for the nation’s hospitals and, especially, for better equipment. She accompanied and supported the claims of the farmers, the ones called “the landless” achieving important work in the Senate for the legalization of plots of land previously usurped by the Armed Forces and now returned to the workers and farmers. She supported especially the rights of trade unions of workers and professionals, and helped to establish health centres for the indigenous population. The Office for the Defence of the People gave her the distinction of “Outstanding Woman of the year 2004″. Pope Juan Pablo II recognizing the common views they shared, (Nilda strongly rejected the attempt in her country to legalize abortion) also recognized her.

Happily married and mother of two children, she lives at the moment in Asunción. As a member of the Paraguayan National Commission for Human Rights, she continues to work as a doctor in the service of poor population. As she was earlier in her medical career, she is continually struck by the condition of under nourishment of so many children. It is just one reflection of a world full of inequalities.

She still walks with a firm tread and her hopes have not diminished: “I dream of a planet with social equalities, without wars, without barbarities directed by the Economic Powers, and with people able to enjoy life”. (1000peacewomen).

REDACCION VIVAPY. La ex senadora Dra. Nilda Estigarribia y miembro de la comisión de derechos humanos del Paraguay, aclaró esta mañana a Radio Cardinal, que Carmen Villalba no recibió torturas físicas pero si, sicologícas y las intenciones expresadas por el comisario Palacios (segun una nota que entrego la mujer a la Dra. Estigarribia) de querer violarla según expresó. La ex legisladora aclaro que tanto las denuncias expresadas por Luis Alfonso Resk como la de ella, fueron dichas por Carmen Villalba. (vivaParaguay).

Find her name on Google Group-search.

links:

Comenzó votación a las más destacadas;

LEY Nº 816: QUE ADOPTA MEDIDAS DE DEFENSA DE LOS RECURSOS NATURALES, EL CONGRESO DE LA NACION PARAGUAYA SANCIONA CON FUERZA DE LEY;

NACIONALES: GENTE POCO CONFIABLE RODEA A MONSEÑOR LUGO EN SU PROPUESTA POLITICA, Nov. 29, 2006;

Ley no. 1066;

Nota de prensa;

Google search for CONADEH Paraguay.

Nigar Ataulla is the Associate Editor of the Bangalore-based magazine Islamic Voice.

She writes: … Muslim representation in the Indian media is dismal, while Muslims’ share in media ownership is even more pathetic. Muslims do not have any considerable hold over the media. In northern India, several Urdu newspapers owned by Muslims have gradually closed down or rapidly lost circulation. In contrast, Urdu dailies from centres like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Kolkata and even Bangalore are doing well and look professional. Muslims are yet to have any major presence in TV channel ownership, though the two or three that exist today devote a large share of time to religious issues, rather than on other social-economic issues facing the community … (full text).

Struggle Against the Odds: The Story of a Muslim Youth, January 13, 2008.

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Sorry, I found no photo of Nigar Ataulla - India, Bangalore

Calligraphy: art works from the heart, 25 June 2007.

She writes also: The Quran and Sunnah are the two primary sources of the religion of Islam. Sunnah narrations are known as Hadith. Hadith stands for what is transmitted by a chain of narrators as Prophet Muhammad’s (Pbuh) words, deeds, what bore his tacit approval, or the description of his person … (her review of the book Fake Pearls).

Non-Muslim Voices Speak for Muslims, April 2003.

And she writes: It was a perfect picture of peace and harmony, as eminent intellectuals, social workers and human rights activists-all non-Muslims stood up in one voice in favour of the Muslims and the riot-hit victims in Gujarat. VOICES, an NGO in collaboration with ActionAid India, organised a seminar on “Gujarat, Governance and the Media” recently. Ashish Sen, Director, VOICES, put across a very pertinent question-how many publications really carry items that are of relevance to the common man-like death of the tribals, oppression