Dear friends,
In 48 hours, my young daughter will appear before a court in Pakistan, under blasphemy laws that carry the death sentence. My innocent girl has struggled her whole life with mental disability -- and shouldn't be punished. I ask you to help save my daughter. Sign this petition to President Zardari to support my call for protection for those from religious minorities:  |
Right now she is being held in a maximum-security jail, and in hours, she will face the court under Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws, which can carry the death sentence. We are a poor Christian family witnessing mob fury over my daughter's case, and many other families have faced similar intimidation forcing them to either flee or live in fear. But the international attention on Rimsha’s case has emboldened Pakistani Muslim leaders to speak out against this injustice and forced President Zardari's attention.
Please help me keep up the global outcry on my daughter's case. I urge you to sign my petition to President Zardari to save Rimsha and demand protection for us and other vulnerable minority families. Avaaz will share this campaign with local and international media, watched carefully by all the politicians here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_save_my_daughter/?bNxfadb&v=17441
An angry mob demanded the arrest of my daughter after a local imam started inciting people against her, claiming she had desecrated the Koran. Some then threatened to kill her and burn down the houses of Christians in our community. I pray that at her hearing on Saturday, the case against her is dismissed and she can come back to live with us.
Our family is in grave danger, as even talking about the blasphemy laws in Pakistan can be deadly -- last year the Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs was killed after asking for the removal of the death penalty for committing blasphemy. It's such a sensitive situation that many of our Christian neighbours from our Islamabad slum have had to flee their homes.
We respect the religious rights of others. We simply hope for the safety of our daughter and our community and wish this had never happened. We are happy that the Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics and scholars here in Pakistan, spoke out, saying: "We don't want to see injustice done with anyone. We will work to end this climate of fear." With your help, we can not only free Rishma but make this incident the beginning of a greater understanding between communities in Pakistan. I ask you to sign this petition, and share it with your friends.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_save_my_daughter/?bNxfadb&v=17441
With hope and determination,
Misrek Masih with the Avaaz team
MORE INFORMATION
Pakistan court postpones bail decision for girl accused of burning Quran (CNN)
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/30/world/asia/pakistan-girl-blasphemy
Father of Pakistani Christian 'blasphemer' girl appeals to President (Independent)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9503532/Father-of-Pakistani-Christian-blasphemer-girl-appeals-to-President-Asif-Ali-Zardari.html
Pakistan blasphemy case Christian girl 'is 14' (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19397884
Pakistani Muslim leaders support Christian girl accused of blasphemy (Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/27/pakistani-muslim-christian-girl-blasphemy
Pakistani Christians, fearing backlash, flee community after girl is accused of blasphemy (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-christians-fearing-backlash-flee-community-after-girl-accused-of-blasphemy/2012/08/20/d3b23c9a-eae3-11e1-866f-60a00f604425_story.html
Pakistani president wades into 'Down's Syndrome' blasphemy case (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0820/Pakistani-president-wades-into-Down-s-Syndrome-blasphemy-case/
Gaza to be Unlivable by 2020 – UN ReportGaza may not be ‘‘a livable place’’ by 2020 unless intensive efforts are made to improve infrastructure and services in fields like energy, health, water, and sanitation, a United Nations report concluded this week
Go to story | Go to homepage
Romney and the European Authoritarian RightJohn Weeks: European right-wing governments prefer Obama for pragmatic reasons, but are closer to Romney in ideology
Go to story | Go to homepage
THIS WEEK'S MUST-READ
Attendance: up. Dropout rates: plummeting. College acceptance: through the roof.
That's what reporter Kristina Rizga found during her 18 months embedded in San Francisco's Mission High School, considered one of the worst schools in the nation. She meets Maria, an undocumented student from El Salvador who goes from barely speaking English to clutching two scholarships and acceptance letters to five colleges. She chases testing data and talks to students, teachers, parents, administrators, officials, reformers, and education wonks of all stripes. And what she discovers is how schools that are fizzling on paper just might be excelling in practice. For the full story of Rizga's mind-blowing year, click here. [READ MORE]
That's what reporter Kristina Rizga found during her 18 months embedded in San Francisco's Mission High School, considered one of the worst schools in the nation. She meets Maria, an undocumented student from El Salvador who goes from barely speaking English to clutching two scholarships and acceptance letters to five colleges. She chases testing data and talks to students, teachers, parents, administrators, officials, reformers, and education wonks of all stripes. And what she discovers is how schools that are fizzling on paper just might be excelling in practice. For the full story of Rizga's mind-blowing year, click here. [READ MORE]
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-mitt-romney-paul-ryan-republican-convention-animated-video-mark-fiore-pol
"Bashar Must Die!"
The Brahimi Plan
The Brahimi Plan
By Thierry Meyssan
The
Western nation-states have just one message for Moscow and Bejing.
They will not fall back; rather they are determined to press on by any
and all means. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32321.htm
Inside Daraya
How a Failed Prisoner Swap Turned Into a Massacre
How a Failed Prisoner Swap Turned Into a Massacre
By Robert Fisk
If
these stories are true, then the armed men - wearing hoods, according
to another woman, who described how they broke into her home and how
she kissed them in a fearful attempt to prevent them shooting her own
family - were armed insurgents rather than Syrian troops. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32320.htm
Israel, Obama and the Curse of John Wayne
By Andrew Alexander
Obama
should make a public declaration against military action by Israel. -
We need a pre-emptive declaration before any pre-emptive war. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32318.htm
Obama's America: Waiting for Blowback
By Nicolas J.S. Davies
The
pervasiveness and perversity of America's military madness could
produce severe "blowback" from any one of the 120 countries where U.S.
special forces now operate. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32319.htm
Why Americans Must End America's Self-Generating Wars
By Peter Dale Scott
The
most urgent political challenge to the world today is how to prevent
the so-called "pax Americana" from progressively degenerating, like the
19th-century so-called "pax Britannica" before it, into major global
warfare. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32315.htm
The Revolution is Over - Long Live the Revolution!
By Bretigne Shaffer
Many
of us were cynical about building a free society by using the
machinery of the state all along. But we supported Ron Paul because we
had to say we tried. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32314.htm
The Real Convention Is On Romney Yacht
By Cenk Uygur
You think Mitt Romney gives a damn what a delegate thinks? The only delegates that matter were on that yacht. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32317.htm
By the Numbers
U.S. is the Worst Police State in the World
By Glen Ford
When U.S. corporate media operatives use the term "police state," they invariably mean some other country. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32316.htm
******************
Pakistan: Eight soldiers, 10 militants killed in SWA clashes:
Eighteen people, eight of them Pakistan Army soldiers and 10
militants, were killed and 16 others injured in fighting between
security forces and militants in the remote mountainous Ghatsar area of
Tiarza subdivision in South Waziristan Agency on Wednesday.
10 Taliban killed in various provinces: Afghan
police and army, backed by the NATO-led coalition forces, have killed
10 Taliban and detained 17 others in different provinces in the past 24
hours, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday
Five Australian occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan: - Three
Australians have been killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday by
an Afghan wearing a soldier's uniform, bringing to 45 the number of
NATO-led coalition troops killed in rogue shootings this year.
5 Afghan civilians killed, 10 wounded by insurgent rockets: The
deputy police chief for Logar province says insurgents appeared to be
aiming at a nearby Afghan army base but the rockets missed their
target.
Six police among seven killed in Iraq attacks: Violence
in Baghdad and north Iraq killed six Iraqi police, including a
general, and a Sunni leader on Wednesday in the latest in a series of
attacks against the country's security forces.
US kills 5 people in Yemen : A US drone attack killed at least four suspected militants in a car in a remote province of Yemen, a security official said.
Russia demands probe into 'barbaric' violence near Damascus: The
ministry specifically cited the discovery of several hundred bodies
near the Damascus suburb of Daraya on Sunday, and a deadly bombing at
the funeral of two loyalists of President Bashar Assad's government on
Tuesday in the town of Jarmana.
Putin Warns: Long Civil War in Syria If Assad Unconstitutionally Ousted: "We
are afraid that if the country's current leadership is removed from
power unconstitutionally, then the opposition and today's leadership
may simply change places," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as
saying.
Turkey Calls on UN to Set up No-Fly Area to "Shield Refugees": Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu urges UN creation of havens to stop refugees pouring across Syrian border
Romney campaign: No to Syria no-fly zone for now: Mitt
Romney's topforeign-policy advisors said Thursday that the presumptive
Republican nominee is not ready to support growing international calls
for establishing a no-fly zone inside Syria.
Syria opposition group not up to challenge, says ex-member: Basma
Kodmani, a prominent figure in the Syrian National Council who
resigned on Tuesday, said the umbrella opposition group had become too
focused on personal agendas and needed to be replaced by a new political
authority.
Egyptian president annoys US, Iran and Syria at summit: EGYPTIAN
president Mohamed Morsi sparked a walk-out by the Syrian delegation at
a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement after saying that the uprising
against Bashar al-Assad is a "revolution against an oppressive regime"
and describing support for the rebels as an "ethical duty" as well as a
"political and strategic necessity".
Ayatollah Khamenei Urges Creating Nuclear-Free Middle East : Imam
Khamenei warned about the ongoing attempts made by the United States
and some world powers to equip "Israel" with more nuclear weapons,
noting that the issue "constitutes an extreme danger for the region and
the UN is expected to adopt measures in this respect."
Western data against Iran N-energy program, rumor: Ex-IAEA expert : "There
is no single proof that Iran is deviating from its commitment from the
Non-Proliferation Treaty. I am very surprised that the [UN] Security
Council took four decisions, sanctions, against Iran just because of
rumors that the intelligence sources may think there is something," he
added.
Iran provides democratic, just solution to Palestine: Leader: "
All the Palestinians -- both its current citizens and those who have
been forced to leave for other countries and have maintained their
Palestinian identity, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, should
take part in a public, carefully supervised and confidence-building
referendum and choose the structure of the political system of this
country,"
Morsi: Palestinian cause a priority: Morsi
said that Palestinian independence "has been a priority of the (Muslim
Brotherhood) movement since its birth and it will be so until we
achieve a comprehensive solution that will support the right of the
Palestinian people to decide their own future and to establish their
free state on their own soil."
Attacks on Libyan school, mosques in challenge to NATO-installed government: An
estimated 200 heavily armed Islamists destroyed 30 graves at a
historic Turkish school in Tripoli's old city early Wednesday and an
unspecified number of other mosques also were attacked, further signs
that Libya's NATO-installed government is facing a major challenge.
SEAL book says bin Laden shot on sight in hallwayt:
Former SEAL Matt Bissonnette's account contradicted in key details the account of the raid presented by administration officials in the days after the May 2011 raid in Abbotabad, Pakistan, that killed the al-Qaida leader, and raised questions about whether the SEALs followed to the letter the order to only use deadly force if they deemed him a threat.
Former SEAL Matt Bissonnette's account contradicted in key details the account of the raid presented by administration officials in the days after the May 2011 raid in Abbotabad, Pakistan, that killed the al-Qaida leader, and raised questions about whether the SEALs followed to the letter the order to only use deadly force if they deemed him a threat.
CIA balked at chance to kill bin Laden in '99, Polish ex-spy says: The
story - the centerpiece of "Ferreting out bin Laden," a book by former
spy Alexander Makowski that was published in Poland in June but isn't
yet available in English - offers previously unknown details about how
the United States missed warning signs of the deadliest foreign attack
ever on U.S. soil.
Glenn Greenwald: Collusion between the New York Times and the CIA: Op-Ed
- Mark Mazzetti's emails with the CIA expose the degradation of
journalism that has lost the imperative to be a check to power
Americans Shot in Mexico Were C.I.A. Operatives : The
two Americans who were wounded when gunmen fired on an American
Embassy vehicle last week were Central Intelligence Agency employees
sent as part of a multiagency effort to bolster Mexican efforts to
fight drug traffickers, officials said on Tuesday.
200 US Marines are patrolling Guatemala coast: "This
is the first Marine deployment that directly supports countering
transnational crime in this area, and it's certainly the largest
footprint we've had in that area in quite some time," said Marine Staff
Sgt. Earnest Barnes at the U.S. Southern Command in Miami.
Romney Party Yacht Flies Cayman Islands Flag: Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands.
Rotten to the core:
Citigroup to pay $590 million to settle investor suit: Citigroup said Wednesday it had agreed to pay $590 million to settle a suit by investors who accused the bank of misleading them on its subprime mortgage-based security losses in 2007-2008.
Citigroup to pay $590 million to settle investor suit: Citigroup said Wednesday it had agreed to pay $590 million to settle a suit by investors who accused the bank of misleading them on its subprime mortgage-based security losses in 2007-2008.
Nicolas Sarkozy is contemplating a £200,000-an-hour job with a bank that already employs his old friend Tony Blair: Morgan Stanley has offered the former French president a quarter of a million euros for one hour of work
Facebook co-founder Moskovitz scrambles to offload his shares: Moskovitz has sold over 1.3 million of his shares in the social network over the last two weeks.
Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America : Op-Ed - The
reason why so many of these people cannot find jobs is the incredible
economic mismanagement by people with names like Robert Rubin, Alan
Greenspan, and Ben Bernanke.
...................................keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weapons................
.............................kosmicdebris........................
No comments:
Post a Comment