Year: 2005

Everyone has heard of Newsweek’s May 9 story about the desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo bay that said American interrogators put copies of the Quran on toilets or in one case, flushed one down a toilet in an attempt to rattle suspects.

Newsweek’s article cited “sources” as saying a report from a military investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse revealed that interrogators, “in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Quran down a toilet.”

The article sparked massive anti-American riots in Afghanistan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia and elsewhere in the Muslim world last week.

In its May 23 issue, Newsweek reported that its senior government source had backed away from his initial story, saying he couldn’t remember if the toilet allegations were in the particular report from the investigation.

And after pressure from the Bush administration, Newsweek disavowed the whole story on Monday. And Newsweek’s Washington bureau chief, says the magazine is taking preventive action in the aftermath of the incident, going back to learn from the mistakes they made.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan acknowledged there are still other ongoing investigations into other reports of religious intolerance — including desecration of the Koran — by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

What do I think?
Well, I think this whole story is most probably true, but that the US government has put so much pressure onto everyone involved to just break the whole thing down and invalidate it.

[Sources: CNN, Al Jazeera]

Uri Avnery and Gush Shalom group demonstrating. – A symbolic blood stain on the national flag. – More Photos by Rachel Avnery.

The car stopped for a moment. An elderly lady pushed her head out of the window and shouted; “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? Today is Holocaust Day, and you are demonstrating for Arabs?!”

“How can one demonstrate for Arabs, especially on Holocaust Day?
Well, it’s a good question. And there is a good answer.

The answer expresses one of the lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust, a lesson that should be raised like a banner on Holocaust Day:

– That decent persons must come to the aid of a persecuted minority.
– That loyalty to your country does not justify agreement with the occupation of another country and the oppression of another people.
– That you must not accept an ideology telling you that you belong to a master nation, to a superior race, to a chosen people – and that other people are inferior and subhuman.

… But Palestinians, and Arabs generally, are not considered full human beings…”

— Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery is a longtime Israeli peace activist. Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership. In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat. He served 3 terms in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc)

[Via: Je Blog]

Good news from Kuwait…

Congratulations to all Kuwaiti women and to Kuwait.
This is really great news.

A Senate committee has approved a $441.6 billion defense bill for fiscal 2006 that envisions spending an additional $50 billion next year for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Can you just imagine how much could be done towards making the world a better place with all that money?!
Instead it’s all being spent on war and destruction!!
More lives will be lost, more destruction, more hatred, more enemies, more more more in an endless cycle of mad violence.

The only winners behind this are those giant weapons manufacturers and the politicians they bribe and back.
It’s disgusting…