Letters to the Editor, February 8, 2004

Dear Congresswoman Nancy Johnson,
Dear Senator Christopher Dodd,
Dear Senator Joseph Lieberman,
Dear Mr. President George W. Bush,
Dear Vice-President Mr Dick Cheney,

Israel has requested that the State Department postpone its annual report on human rights abuses around the world until after the ICJ rules on the legality of the apartheid wall currently being constructed on stolen Palestinian land. I expect the State Department to publish the report as expected on February 25th, 2004. It would be dishonest and unethical to assist the Israelis in continuing their crimes by delaying a report on their human rights abuses.

I expect all of my elected officials to demand that this report be published without delay and without any exceptions. Failure to do so would merely prove that you have no interest in human rights or democracy as it relates to Arabs and Muslims.

Sincerely,

Selma Hermez
New Britain, CT

The Super Bowl isn't over yet

The Super Bowl isn't over yet... or at least this part of it isn't! As you know, CBS refused to run MoveOn Voter Fund's "Child's Pay" ad -- perhaps the most tasteful and uncontroversial advocacy ad in history -- during the Super Bowl. CBS executives claimed they had a blanket policy against all so-called "issue" ads.

But now the network plans to broadcast an ad promoting the Bush Medicare prescription drug law. This is part of a $13 million taxpayer-financed TV campaign to take the heat off the White House for pushing through a drug plan that benefits drug companies and insurance companies more than Medicare recipients.

The White House ad features the tagline "Same Medicare. More Benefits." But a report by Consumers Union last month said that most people covered by Medicare will wind up spending more for prescription drugs, as a result of the provisions in the law which favor drug companies. According to the Washington Post, the campaign is intended "to counteract Democratic criticism that changes to the (Medicare) program will harm older Americans."

If that isn't a controversial issue ad, I don't know what is. But since CBS appears to be changing its policy, please contact CBS today to let them know that they need to either pull the White House ads or also run the MoveOn Voter Fund's "Child's Pay" ad to be fair and balanced.

You can reach CBS at:

Phone: CBS Comment Line (212) 975-3247

Email: newmediasales@cbs.com

Web form: http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.shtml

Charles A. Beers

Mel Gibson and the Holocaust

Jews who want to crucify Mel Gibson (producer/director of the new movie "The Passion of Christ") for remarks putting the Holocaust in context are wrong.

The Nazis killed 6 million Jews in concentration camps and rural ditches. The Nazis also killed 6 million disabled, gays, Roma (gypsies), and political opponents. They worked slave labourers from the East to death. These are no less crimes than killing Jews.

In the 20th century, more millions of civilians died in the USSR, Cambodia, China, Ruanda-Burundi, India, Pakistan, the Balkans, and many other places, deliberately killed because of their religion, race, class, caste, tribe or political leanings.

In millennia past, many more victims were massacred by conquerors. Jews have no monopoly on suffering, Nazis no monopoly on terror.

It is wrong everywhere whenever people are suspected and persecuted because of their religion, race, class, caste, tribe or political leanings. We must recognise and fight any such tendency in other countries, and especially in our own country and our own heart.

Tom Trottier

Jushka Fisher is helping Israel on the Wall

The Zionist proposal, presented this time by Mr. Jushka Fisher (the German Foreign Minister), is totally to the benefit of the Zionist racist state of Israel and the Zionist project of a 'Greater Israel' in the Middle East.

May I advise Mr. Fisher to use his own mind and his own views that should represent the nation of Germany, instead of bowing down to the Zionist/Israeli pressure by presenting and supporting Zionist projects in the Middle East on behalf of the world's Zionists and the Israeli Zionists.

Before anything else, the Middle East needs peace and stability. And without finding a very just solution to the Palestinian question, it would be no peace and stability in the region. And thus, no free trade market is going to function in the Middle East.

Mr. Fisher's support for a free trade market in the ME (and the Mediterranean area) is no less shameful and painful than his support, as he mentioned a few days ago, for the Israeli racist wall when he said that he is with building the racist wall of Israel but against the route of that wall. Strange!! What's new Mr. fisher?

Obviously, Mr. Fisher contradicts himself by presenting and supporting these Zionist projects. It is very strange that Mr. Fisher calls for a free trade market in the region, while he supports Israel to build its racist wall that is going to put the Palestinian people in a big jail like animals.

I am really wondering how Mr. Fisher proposes and supports an 'open' free market in the Middle East, when 3.5 million Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) have been living under the worst military occupation in human-kind history, as the racist state of Israel has turned the whole OPT (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem) into a 'closed' big jail.

Mr. Fisher needs to stand strongly pro human rights and justice for the helpless, armless people of Palestine, instead of presenting and supporting such Zionist proposals, which only strengthen the racist state of Israel.

Such Zionist proposals by Mr. Fisher must be totally rejected by all the peace- and justice-loving people around the world.

No, thank you, Mr. Fisher. The world and the Middle East, in particular, do not need anymore destructive Zionist projects as those you are proposing.

Hilmi Salem, PhD.

US Aid to Israelis

It would be interesting to know how many of those American taxpayers believe they and their families have received as much from the U.S. Treasury as has everyone who has chosen to become a citizen of Israel. But it's a question that will never occur to the American public because, so long as America's mainstream media, Congress and president maintain their pact of silence, few Americans will ever know the true cost of Israel to U.S. taxpayers"

http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm#STRATEGIC

"Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress, which has undoubtedly helped Israel's often-touted claim that they have never defaulted on a U.S. government loan. U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the United States. Unlike other countries, which receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future revenues. Israel even lends some of this money back through U.S. treasury bills and collects the additional interest. "

Even excluding all of these extra costs, America's $84.8 billion in aid to Israel from fiscal years 1949 through 1998, and the interest the U.S. paid to borrow this money, has cost U.S. taxpayers $134.8 billion, not adjusted for inflation. Or, put another way, the nearly $14,630 every one of 5.8 million Israelis received from the U.S. government by Oct. 31, 1997 has cost American taxpayers $23,240 per Israeli.

Maisoon Rice

We decide to start a hunger strike from February 4, 2004, and this, as french and muslim citizen, direct witness to this issue, having a bitter feeling of a uncompleted dialogue and the victory of intelorance.

Object:	Hunger strike enters 2 day
	February 4, 2004

Considering Democracy as the art to regulate the dissensions between citizens and State on a civilized and not in a secularized way, We ,Hajar Ajimi and Sofia Rahem, do decide to start a hunger strike from Wednesday February 4, 2004, and this, as french and muslim citizen, direct witness to this issue, having a bitter feeling of a uncompleted dialogue and the victory of intelorance.

If it is true that the Stasi Commission has been responsible for chairing the discussion about the port of the veil, we, citizen of the French Republic, do estimate that our most fundamental rights of expression and conscience have been scorned and consequently, we should restore a fairer and more objective dialogue.

Since the Human Rights do not belong to any gouverment and do not confine to any continent because it do belong to the very humanity
Since the French School System (or the Repulic Education State) must give to anyone freedom of choosing its own references to form.
Since 65 million of women do not have access to Education.(Unicef

We invite all citizens all over the world,
supporting our cause, to set up this petition

www.Gfaim2savoir.com
info@Gfaim2Savoir.com
06.13.98.67.70

VENDREDI 6 FÉVRIER
Tariq Ramadan sur OummaTV : « Il est fondamental d'être présent en masse à la manifestation citoyenne du 14 février »
Par Tariq Ramadan

Au sommaire aujourd'hui sur OummaTV, un entretien avec Tariq Ramadan pour qui la future loi contre le voile n'est qu'un prétexte. Selon l'intellectuel suisse, le fond du débat doit se situer « au niveau de la reconnaissance du pluralisme religieux en France. Mais plus fondamentalement encore, le vrai défi est celui de la mise en place d'une véritable politique sociale et égalitaire, accompagnée d'une lutte contre tous les racismes ». Tariq Ramadan plaide pour une « citoyenneté critique, indépendante, ouverte, consciente d'elle-même qui refuse à la fois toute forme de radicalisation et de soumission aveugle au diktat d'une autorité politique animée surtout par des ambitions électoralistes ».

In French:

84% des enseignants favorables à l'exclusion des élèves portant le hijab

Une grande majorité d'enseignants (84%) se déclare favorable à l'exclusion d'une élève voilée si aucun compromis ne peut être trouvé, révèle mercredi 4 février un sondage CSA pour le Monde et la Vie.
Selon cette enquête réalisée du 22 au 24 janvier auprès de 504 enseignants de collèges et de lycées publics, 65% des sondés sont favorables à la recherche d'un compromis suivi, en cas d'échec, de l'exclusion de l'élève, 19% exigent le retrait du voile sous peine d'exclusion. Seuls 15% refusent d'exclure un élève, même sans compromis.
Le sondage révèle également que la laïcité n'est pas le soucis principal des enseignants. Elle n'arrive qu'en onzième position dans la liste de leurs préoccupations, loin derrière l'échec scolaire, la défense du service public ou les relations parents-professeurs.
Source : Reuters, 4 février 2004

Cette photo montre le ridicule de cette affaire concernant le voile!!!!

" pendant plus d'un siècle, en Algérie, plusieurs millions d'"indigènes" se sont vu refuser l'égalité avec les autres Français vivant sur la même terre qu'eux, au motif qu'ils étaient musulmans. Entre 1830 et 1945, dans ces territoires de la République, devenir un Français à part entière supposait de ... renoncer à l'islam. Ce traumatisme reste présent dans la mémoire des Français issus de l'immigration maghrébine. Il a même été réactivé récemment quand a été remis en question l'accès à la nationalité par le droit du sol.

Invoquer la République comme garante suprême de l'égalité ne va pas donc de soi pour la population issue de cette histoire coloniale. Lever ce lourd quiproquo aurait exigé des paroles solennelles telles que celles que M. Chirac a su prononcer à propos de la responsabilité de Vichy dans la déportation des juifs. Cette fois, le président de la République a préféré l'amnésie et le silence, à propos d'une blessure indicible que la loi sur les signes religieux n'est pas près d'apaiser."

Philippe Bernard - Le Monde-

Sent by InfoPress.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

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