Peace and Justice Post

Pakistan Christian Post, July 20, 2010

Faisalabad: July 19, 2010. (PCP) Muslim extremists shot dead Rahid Emmanuel and Sajjid Emmanuel in broad daylight in front of hundreds of people in district courts compound in Faisalabad today.

There were rumors and reports on July 18, 2010, that both of Christian brothers are free to go home from Civil Lines Police Station Faisalabad where they were detained on July 4, 2010, under blasphemy charges on complaint of one Muslim businessman of Railway Bazar because police told friends of Rashid and Sajjid that there is no proof found against them which may extend their detention.

Today, investigation officer Mohammad Hussian produced Rashid Emmanuel and Sajjid Emmanuel before Judge in District Courts where he testified that police have investigated allegations leveled against them but found no proof that they may be charged under blasphemy.

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Socialist Worker, July 15, 2010

At the World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva, Switzerland, members of U.S. anti-death penalty organizations walked out of a session because it was being addressed, via speakerphone, by Pennsylvania death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has unjustly spent more than a quarter century behind bars. The Campaign to End the Death Penalty issued this open letter to the abolitionist community in defense of Mumia.

By Patrick Cockburn,  Counterpunch, July 19, 2010

On June 14, this year, an interpreter for the US army called Hameed al-Daraji was shot dead as he was sleeping in his house in Samarra, a city 60 miles north of Baghdad.

In some respects there was nothing strange about the killing, since 26 Iraqi civilians were murdered in different parts of the country on the same day. As well as working periodically for the Americans since 2003, Mr Daraji may have recently converted to Christianity and unwisely taken to wearing a crucifix around his neck – a gesture quite enough to make him a target in the Sunni Arab heartlands.

What made Iraqis, inured to violence though they are, pay particular attention to the murder of Mr Daraji was the identity of his killer. Arrested soon after the body was discovered, his son is reported to have confessed to his father’s murder, explaining that his father’s job and change of religion brought such shame on the family that there was no alternative to shooting him. A second son and Mr Daraji’s nephew are also wanted for the killing and all three of the young men are alleged to have links to al-Qa’ida.

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Vandana Shiva, The Asian Age, July 19, 2010

The Bhopal gas tragedy was the worst industrial disaster in human history. Twenty-five thousand people died, 500,000 were injured, and the injustice done to the victims of Bhopal over the past 25 years will go down as the worst case of jurisprudence ever.
The gas leak in Bhopal in December 1984 was from the Union Carbide pesticide plant which manufactured “carabaryl” (trade name “sevin”) — a pesticide used mostly in cotton plants. It was, in fact, because of the Bhopal gas tragedy and the tragedy of extremist violence in Punjab that I woke up to the fact that agriculture had become a war zone. Pesticides are war chemicals that kill — every year 220,000 people are killed by pesticides worldwide.

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Letter reveals former PM was aware of guidance to UK agents

Ian Cobain, The Guardian/UK, July 18, 2010

Tony Blair: it remains unclear what he knew of the policy’s consequences. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty

Tony Blair was aware of the ­existence of a secret interrogation policy which ­effectively led to British citizens, and others, being ­tortured during ­counter-terrorism investigations, the Guardian can reveal.

The policy, devised in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, offered ­guidance to MI5 and MI6 officers ­questioning detainees in Afghanistan who they knew were being mistreated by the US military.

British intelligence officers were given written instructions that they could not “be seen to condone” torture and that they must not “engage in any activity yourself that involves inhumane or degrading treatment of prisoners”.

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The Jewish community in Britain seems to be over the moon. A survey that was published a few days ago suggests that British Jews are nothing but  ‘peace lovers’. The Guardian was also quick to report that  77% of “British Jews favour a ‘two-state solution’ in Israel”.

In practice, this actually means that at least 77% of British Jews believe that millions of dispossessed Palestinians should continue to dwell in refugee camps and never be allowed to their  homes, cities, and villages. I am actually far from impressed with British Jewry’s inclination towards peace.

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The Huffington Post, July 16, 2010

A newly released video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could add some additional strain to the sometimes tense relationship between him and President Obama.

In the video, which is from 2001, Netanyahu — who reportedly did not know his speech was being recorded — speaks frankly in Hebrew about relations with the Clinton White House and the peace process.

As noted in Haaretz, Netanyahu seems to boast of his knowledge of the US by saying, “I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in their way.”

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U.S.. Assistant Secretary of State, Andrew Shapiro, stated Friday that the US government intends to grant Israel the amount of 2.775 Billion U.S. Dollars in what was described as the largest single military-security aid grant to Israel.

He said that the money is considered a special military-security aid grant to Israel in order for Israel to ensure “its security needs are met under the current circumstances”.

The Obama administration already asked the Congress to grant this amount to Israel.
His statements came as he addressed the US-Israeli relationships on Friday during a speech at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy.

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