SANA’s Paul Johns has been pulling together the report on our visit to Bosnia last month – heard from him yesterday, as well as from Anjum at Blackburn Cathedral which is hosting a visit from our Bosnian friends in February to launch the F-word Exhibition – sounds great & I’ll be there.

At the Women’s Interfaith Network today, I heard about a recent gathering in Birmingham of the European Women of Faith Network – part of Religions for Peace (if you’re involved, let me know) – but more significantly for Zajedno people, the EWFN started life in Sarajevo with a Bosnia-Kosovo women’s interfaith conference in 2003.  We met the Interreligious Council in Sarajevo but I don’t remember hearing about the women’s network.

Fotbalistii Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo sau Zlatan Ibrahimovici sunt printre cei zece aspiranti la premiul Balonul de Aur, acordat in fiecare an celui mai bun jucator din Europa de catre revista franceza France Football, informeaza AFP.

Castigatorul premiului Balonul de Aur va fi anuntat in cadrul unei ceremonii care va avea loc marti, 1 decembrie. Presa il considera principal favorit pe argentinianul Lionel Messi. Trofeul de anul trecut a fost castigat de portughezul Cristiano Ronaldo.

 Lista celor 10 finalisti: Didier Drogba (Coasta de Fildes, Chelsea), Samuel Eto’o (Camerun, FC

Barcelona/Inter Milano), Steven Gerrard (Anglia, Liverpool), Zlatan Ibrahimovici (Suedia, Inter Milano/FC Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Spania, FC Barcelona), Kaka (Brazilia, AC Milan/Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugalia, Manchester United/Real Madrid), Wayne Rooney (Anglia, Manchester United), Xavi (Spania, FC Barcelona). Jucatorii care nu au intrat in finala sunt (locurile 11-30): 11. Fernando Torres (Spania, Liverpool); 12. Cesc Fabregas (Spania, Arsenal); 13. Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg); 14. Ryan Giggs (Tara Galilor, Manchester United); 15. Thierry Henry (Franta, FC Barcelona); 16. Luis Fabiano (Brazilia, FC Sevilla), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), Iker Casillas (Spania, Real Madrid); 19. Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid); 20. Yoann Gourcuff (Franta, Bordeaux); 21. Andrei Arsavin (Rusia, Arsenal), Julio Cesar (Brazilia, Inter Milano), Frank Lampard (Anglia, Chelsea); 24. Maicon (Brazilia, Inter Milano); 25. Diego (Brazilia, Werder Bremen/Juventus Torino); 26. David Villa (Spania, Valencia), John Terry (Anglia, Chelsea); 28. Franck Ribery (Franta, Bayern Munchen), Yaya Toure (Coasta de Fildes, FC Barcelona); 30. Karim Benzema (Franta, Lyon/Real Madrid).

MARIN MIHAI-BLOGUL ROMANILOR  DE PRETUTINDENI(http://mihaimarin.wordpress.com)

 The Swiss nation has always prided itself on being a neutral country.  Its second city gives its name to the convention which governs how warring nations treat each other’s captured soldiers.  The International Red Cross was born here and the country’s flag, reversed, was adopted as its emblem.

Numerous international organisations, including those dealing with environmental law, trade and sustainable development, torture and pharmaceutical manufacturers have based themselves here; as have the World Health Organisation and the Fairtrade Institute; presumably drawn to the country by its tolerant internationalist outlook.

So it was some surprise this morning to hear that the Swiss were to vote in a referendum to decide whether or not minarets should be banned.  And it was a greater surprise this afternoon to hear that the Swiss have gone along with what is little more than a racist stand.

I use the word racist quite deliberately.  Of course Islam and its followers are a faith and a faith community rather than a nation and a race; but hostility to Islam often appears to be much closer to hatred based on racial identity than any ideological difference about Islamic belief.

At one level, the referendum sounds very reasonable.  Having travelled to the Middle East and to Islamic countries further afield I have heard the Muslim call to prayer being broadcast five times a day across cities.  The truth is that you soon get used to it; in the same way that living in the shadow of St Paul’s in London, as I did some years ago, you soon stop hearing the cathedral’s bells every 15 minutes of the day and night.  But while the call to prayer is appropriate in a country with a long-standing Islamic culture; I would not support the call to prayer being adopted by mosques in Britain.

But the contributors to a report on BBC Radio Four’s Sunday Programme this morning left no doubt that much of the hostility had very little to do with the desirability or otherwise of an amplified call to prayer and much more to do with hatred of all things Islamic.

One of those featured was Swiss MP Oskar Freysinger of the Swiss People’s Party, one of the people behind today’s referendum.  He said:

“The biggest problem is a demographic problem.  The Islamic people, even in Europe, have three or four times the children that we have.  You can only wait 20, 30 or 40 years and the problem will be impossible to resolve because we’ll have two parallel societies living in the same country with internal conflicts between two visions of what a state must be.  That can’t be a harmonic development of Europe.”

Swiss Anti-Islamic Campaign poster

And the poster used by campaigners to persuade people to vote for a ban included a picture of a woman wearing a burqa against a background of the Swiss flag.

The Swiss campaigners have been dishonest.  They are using what appears to be modest stance to send a message to Muslims that they are not welcome.  This will be a particularly disturbing message to the majority of Muslims in Switzerland, as unlike Britain, most Swiss Muslims are former Yugoslavians, who saw their own Mosques destroyed during the brutal war in Bosnia.

How should Christians respond to such moves?  Of course, we believe that Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and that nobody goes to the Father except through him (John 14:6 and John 3:18).  But that doesn’t mean we should seek to ban those with a different view.  Rather, we should show respect to their beliefs while being prepared to challenge them by preaching the Gospel of Christ. 

This is what Paul did in Greece at Mars Hill / the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34).  He didn’t condemn the locals for their worship of Pagan gods; but challenged them and used his knowledge of their beliefs (the altar to the unknown god) as a tool with which to explain the uniqueness of Jesus’ sacrificial grace.

It is good to see that churches in Switzerland were amongst those uniting against the ban.  And they weren’t acting alone.  Christians, Jews, Muslims and people of other faiths and none could see the damage such a ban would bring.
Unfortunately, anybody listening to the Radio Four piece this morning would have got the impression that the churches weren’t united on this issue.  They reported that evangelical Christians were supporting the ban.  Their reporter obviously didn’t ask the Swiss Evangelical Alliance before making such a claim.  The Alliance Evangélique Suisse / Allianza Evangelica Svizzera has produced a detailed opinion document in which they explains why a federal constitutional ban on minarets is the wrong way to resolve issues of coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Switzerland.

Most Christians and people of faith will see this as a further attack by aggressive secularists who want to drive all faith and religions from the market place.  The Muslims are first in line because it is easy to use 9/11 and other recent terrorist attacks to stoke widespread public fear and revulsion.  And, after the Muslims have been sidelined it is a logical next step to say that to prevent Muslims being unfairly discriminated against; similar restrictions should be imposed on all religious groups.

The Swiss vote to ban minarets is wrong on so many fronts.  If I were Swiss, I would be extremely ashamed tonight.

“Sentenza tombale”: questo è il nome con il quale è conosciuta la sentenza emessa a luglio 2009 dal Tribunale di Bari, con la quale viene archiviata l’indagine per lesioni e omicidi colposi nei confronti dei militari italiani in missione nei Balcani.

Si legge nelle motivazioni della sentenza che il Pentagono ha avvisato il Governo italiano della pericolosità dell’uranio impoverito nel luglio del 1999; il Governo a sua volta, dopo alcuni mesi, nel dicembre dello stesso anno, ha emanato una direttiva per l’adeguamento dei protocolli tecnico-operativi. Tale ritardo nella trasmissione della direttiva attraverso la catena di comando, fino a giungere ai militari che operavano sul territorio contaminato costituisce una semplice omissione, che configura un reato contravvenzionale. Prescrivibile in tre anni, entro il 2002. Cioè: il Ministero della Difesa, il Governo e gli ufficiali della catena di comando, sono stati tecnicamente assolti da qualsiasi accusa.

I primi bombardamenti con proiettili  all’uranio impoverito in Europa da parte degli aerei della NATO avvennero tra il 1994  e il 1995 in Bosnia, proprio nelle zone nelle quali, successivamente andarono ad operare i nostri soldati. Il Pentagono avverte l’Italia nel luglio 1999. Lo Stato italiano avverte i soldati nel dicembre 1999.

Prima di queste date, nessuno sospettava della pericolosità dell’uranio impoverito.

Serbia’s bad luck is your gain, as Macy’s has announced it will hold a three-day Bosnian Independence Day Sale next week, which comes on the heels of  its annual post-Thanksgiving Black Friday bargains.  Starting Monday, shoppers can get deals of 20 percent off or more on a wide-range of Macy’s Bosnian made goods and apparel, including Cyrillic language  Bibles,  yak hair coats, and Frango mints in the shape of Prijezda I, who is hailed by Bosnians for being their nation’s first Bogomilist king.

Those of you who will miss the sale fear not – Macy’s will follow up the following day with its “National Hug a Catholic Week Sale,”  featuring 20 percent off all priest vestments, nun habits and Virgin Mary pepper mills.

Kilde: Bortført.no / Nyheter

Da Evas sønn ble bortført nektet politiet å motta anmeldelsen. Hun fikk ingen hjelp. Verdifull tid gikk tapt og hun bestemte seg for å leie inn eksperthjelp fra ABP World Group.

Gutten hadde blitt bortført til Mitrovica i Kosovo av barnefar og Eva ønsket hjelp med å lokalisere og bringe ham hjem.

Det ble sendt et 3 manns team ifra ABP til Kosovo. Byrået har kontaktnettverk i de fleste land i verden, og det gjelder også Balkan. De har og taktiske team som ved behov kan hente ut barnet fysisk fra bortførers oppholdssted.

Huset der barnet befant seg ble lokalisert, samt møter med lokale maktpersoner med beslutningsansvar ble avholdt, slik som politisjefer, ministre, Department of Justice i Pristina med flere.

Martin Waage fra ABP hadde via kontakter ordnet seg med en høyerestående polititjenestemann som guide og “døråpner”. Ambassadøren, Sverre Johan Kvaale, og hans medarbeidere forklarte om hva de kunne assistere med og hva som var deres begrensninger, men påpekte at de var mer enn velvillige til å gjøre hva som kunne gjøres fra deres side.

For å gjøre en lang historie kort: Evas sønn ble returnert to måneder etter at Waage hadde fått oppdraget. Saken løste seg med fredlige midler.

Hvert år blir om lag 50 norske barn bortført til utlandet. Myndighetene viser liten vilje og handlekraft til å få returnert norske barn. Norske myndigheter klarer ikke å få til samme resultat som Martin Waage fra ABP – ganske enkelt fordi de ikke prioriterer disse barna.

Vi ser gang på gang at myndighetene gir foreldre urealistiske forventninger om sjansene til å få tilbake barna med rettslige midler. Foreldre henvises til lange, kostbare, og som oftest, håpløse rettsprosser i utlandet. Vi ønsker å gjøre noe aktivt slik at flere bortførte barn returneres til Norge og at det blir mindre attraktivt å bortføre norske barn.

Bortført-fondet skal gjøre foreldre i stand til å kjøpe inn tjenester fra spesialister i sikkerhetsoppdrag, som skal lokalisere og tilbakeføre bortførte barn til Norge.

Vil du hjelpe? Besøk Bortført.no

Wow!  I just can’t fathom that it’s Thanksgiving already.

 Is it just me feeling the slow march of time, as in a lot of years lived on this earth creeping up on me faster and faster – putting the calender in higher and higher gear?   Whatever it is, or isn’t, it’s still  Thanksgiving.  For many of us it’s just “turkey day.”  You know, time to hang out with the family and maybe, if we’re able or even lucky at this point, gorge ourselves on a lot of food and watch football or enjoy other holiday traditions.

Sadly, for an increasing number of us who might be displaced, dispossessed, or homeless, it’s a rather depressing day.  I spent a lot of Thanksgivings away from my family because of military obligations, and later, television news schedules in the various markets I worked.  Since I was single and wasn’t working anywhere near my hometown, I always volunteered to work Thanksgiving or Christmas, or both.  While in the military, if I was deployed or away from home, I always volunteered to visit an orphanage. Lord knows in too many of those countries there were enough orphanages to visit every single holiday.

In the news biz it was far different, as you’d expect.  There was always the “typical” thanksgiving day story – the  food banks and shelters, or something related to it. Hell it got to the point where reporting those stories became disturbingly similar to painting by numbers. “Bam,” show up, get three or four soundbites; write the narrative , do your live shot(s) and go home.   But, one particular thanksgiving in Indianapolis  in 2000 really left me teary eyed.

My photographer that day, Steve, and I felt ambitious. We decided to go out early that morning. In the military we’d call it “o-dark early,” like around 4:30 am.  It was a cold day. Colder than usual, even for near-winter Indiana as a fierce wind blew across the Indiana plains through Indianapolis carrying a bone chilling 28 degree mercury reading with it.  Steve and I braved our way into one of the, not too easily concealed, homeless camps on the edge of downtown.

As you’d expect we were met with a mixture of jeers, hostility, curiosity and, surprisingly – affability, when we told everyone we’re going to ensure they would all eat some good turkey-day chow. It was a promise we intended to keep as we convinced the station to significantly up its allotment of humble, as in institutionally-catered, thanksgiving meals they bring in for the holiday staff so we’d have at least 25 extra servings for these homeless folks.  And, that was a mildly conservative estimate.

But, we wanted to realistically, without resorting to the typical local news reporting  bombastic hyperbole, chronicle Thanksgiving on the cold, unforgiving streets.  We really, sincerely, aimed to provide a humbling juxtaposition for the majority of our comfortably ensconced viewers enjoying the voluminous bounties of our land.  Bounty, that is, if you aren’t homeless and make a salary considerably above the poverty line.

Looking back on it, it was kind of easy for us to hang there and form an easy rapport with the homeless rank and file.  Steve and I are both quite used to roughing it.  I had recently re-deployed from an active reserve tour in Bosnia where I had to deal with my fair share of mass grave discoveries – the gruesome aftermath of war gone completely, unabashedly, mad.  For his part, Steve was one of the station’s hardiest and most danger seeking videographers.  He was the guy always out  chasing tornados, of which there are many in Indiana.  He mostly worked solo, because he had this crazy tendency to get really, many would say, sickeningly close to them.  He  invariably scared the crap out of a lot of unsuspecting rookie reporters who didn’t know what exactly they were in for.

I know first hand, because my first month there that unsuspecting rookie reporter was me.  And, man, let me tell you, you haven’t lived until a tree hurtles across your windshield while the vehicle is rolling back and forth like a ship on an ocean with the angriest, darkest, fiercest-looking funnel cloud flirting disastrously close with your butt.  It was that moment, though, Steve and I measured each other and bonded in a way Soldiers, or a news crew knee-deep in life threatening danger, often, and quite easily do.

So, hanging with some homeless folks, even those who invariably have significant mental health issues, was really no big deal.  But, we approached our work with an altruistic heart and a sincere journalistic desire to inform; telling the story of those who really are powerless to advocate on their own behalf.  This, even though we were vividly aware of the fine line we were walking.  It’s easy to accuse journalists – especially television journalists of crass exploitation. Hell, that’s what a lot of  TV reporting is based on after all.

In short, we produced a tear jerker of a piece. Our goal was to make our viewers stop and  take pause. At the very least, we wanted them to take inventory of not just their lives, situations and blessings as well as those of the people orbiting around their personal circles, but of the general state of society.  We wanted them to consciously ponder, while they were stuffing bite after bite down their throats, how in the greatest, so-called wealthiest country on earth, hundreds of thousands of other human beings, regardless of the circumstances that made them homeless – and hungry, could live like that.  Live in that sad and dangerous state of deprivation, on a holiday that not just represented great bounty, but unashamedly celebrated it.

I know what it’s like to be that way… Not just for the six or seven hours we spent “living homeless” that cold morning.  You see, I was homeless once in my life . I was a naively obstinate 17-year old punk kid who ran away from home in my senior year of high school.  I was fed up and disillusioned.  I was sick of the football and track coaches. Sick of my school. Sick of my teachers and sick of the students, 98 percent of them white South Jersey hicks, who nick-named my bohemian mixed-race ass “hippie nigger.”  And, above all I was sick of my mom and dad who, in my adolescent hormone-jet fueled psyche, had the audacity to move ME from my cool, familiar, environs in THE CITY to hick-ass pine tree laden South Jersey, as in Ocean County, New Jersey.  And, yes, it wasn’t far from the coast and beaches which many people realize are kind of cool for the East Coast.  But, to me I might as well had been moved down south – like Dixie South.  Well, eventually my parents got sick of  South Jersey too, since they moved to Seattle afterward. But, it wasn’t  soon enough for me.

After what was probably my upteenth tantrum, and whining about being too far from New York, my dad uttered those now immortal words, “If you don’t like it, then go!”  So, I did, actually.  That was two weeks before Thanksgiving.  But, I remember that  Thanksgiving all too well.  Homeless, scrounging for food and shelter on the cold hard streets.  Damn!  An education for sure. One you can’t buy, but one simply you have to live.  

 It didn’t stop there, though. I spent Christmas on the run too, but wound up with a friend I met who took me home for a week. He told his parents I was a college student from California who couldn’t afford to go back for Christmas break. They eventually got suspicious when, despite their incessant worrying and prodding, I refused to call my parents for Christmas.  They wound up calling the police and I was soon on my way back home to South Jersey.

That experience obviously stayed with me and helped shape the person I eventually grew into, for good and for worse.

So, as I sit here and reflect on my bounties this Thanksgiving, I realize I have so much to be thankful for.  I have my health and I survived a substantial military career, including several rough deployments and a war, in one piece.  My beautiful daughter married a very cool guy.  My parents, though with my dad in questionable, if not slowly failing, health are still here on this earth.  I have three great sisters and two wonderful nephews who are becoming men in their own right.

My Soldiers, in the unit I was placed in charge of before I left the Army, successfully completed a long tour attached to Special Forces Groups in Afghanistan. This, despite some harrowing incidents and firefights. They’re home and moving on with their lives, goals and careers.

I have a radio show and I continue to help people, and journalistically advocate for those who aren’t able to do so easily on their own.

So, here’s to you!  Happy Thanksgiving. May you be thankful for what’s really important to you.  And, may you share your bounty, whatever it may be, with the world around you.

People often ask me why I even bother to care. As if “I”, indeed, can really do anything largely impactful. (It appears most of them are quicker to cast doubt on you than support you. I don’t allow myself to be thwarted by their negativity.) After being asked this question several times lately- I’ve reflected back to where my awareness of impending humanitarian crises first began. The point when I recognized the presence of a world beyond my own small existence and its simultaneously occurring events. (Does that sound cheesy enough yet?)

I just finished the 4th grade and was in Phoenix, visiting my Aunt and Uncle. After playing outside for hours, the parching heat chased me indoors. I needed water! I slid open her screen door and slammed it behind myself just to hear the echo. I was the only “non- adult” in the house. My footsteps on the tile floor were the only sounds, besides the television and voices of my family members on the patio. Alone to sneak a cookie or two- what opportunity!

I glanced curiously at the television. The news was on and I watched a group of men carrying a boy from a burning building. One of his legs was completely crushed and the other bleeding. He was grabbing the arms of the NATO paramedics begging them to let him live and not to amputate his leg. I remember barely being able to read the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. The continued footage showed groups of orphaned and injured children, whom I quickly realized, were the same age as me…

I never stopped to think about this before. I always thought all other children were just like me. They had the same things as I had. They had parents as good as mine, food, a place to go to school and a bed to sleep in. (I also thought health care was free and food was too- damn, was I wrong!)

Someone called my name from the patio. I went back outside- telling my relatives that “I never wanted to watch the news again”. I was distraught and damaged. I never forgot about that boy. The footage was a Serbian attack on Bosnia. At the time- I didn’t realize how much the event I witnessed bared relation to a distant stranger. Here is why:

My family was living in West Virginia when I was about 2 years old. A young woman of about 19 years old moved into the apartment next to us. She spoke no English and was sent to the US by an arranged family marriage from Bosnia. She was doe eyed, bewildered and within months gave birth to a son- who became my best friend and first “boyfriend”. We often played together as my mother aided his young mother in learning English.

Sadly, her husband was abusive and my family eventually moved to South Carolina. She called us one day- telling my mother she was taken to a “bad house”. My mother urged her to return to her family in Bosnia. This was right before the wars and the siege of Sarajevo.

I always wondered what happened to him. He would be my age now and I have never been able to find him since. If he returned to the Balkans as his mother said they would- the crisis would have directly affected him. Maybe he was somewhere behind those cameras on that news footage or maybe he is safe and more affluent then me. At least this is what I hope…

It’s difficult to gage the exact point in your life when you realize this truth: We are not created equal. Our teachers, parents and politicians tell us that we are. This is not in any way accurate.  We indeed are victims of the cultural framework we are born into from the beginning. Our deviations from this depend on our education and exposures.

Today, I reflect on just a few months ago as I watched the amount of displaced persons in Pakistan climb from a few hundred thousand to millions in just two weeks. Jeffery Sach’s book “The End of Poverty” presents statistics revealing that 1/3 of humanity has not even reached the “bottom rung” on the ladder of economic development. Out of the 6 billion people in this world this fraction would represent roughly 2 billion, including the 45 million uprooted and displaced by war. That’s 1/3 of the world’s people without food, clean water or basic amenities, which is 1/3 TOO MANY…

Perhaps it was easier for Herman and Peterson’s article Vulliamy’s Smears at Counter Punch, Monthly Review, and Media Lens to link to a blog that receives little attention from its creator because they just might pass under the radar in that manner or perhaps it was due to the post’s Google rank, but either way it has come to the point where I cannot ignore the attempt to dismiss the valid issues that Ed Vulliamy raises in his open letter.  Also, I am perplexed that Herman and Peterson would go so far as to have everyone believe that through my blog Vulliamy’s Open Letter to Amnesty International was started and further circulated.  I doubt that my semi-moribund blog, which receives occasional spurts of informational CPR, has that much influence. 

More importantly though, the real issues within the letter are being circumvented with ad hominem attacks and fallacies as well as being used to propagate revisionist views.  Through this analysis (and another to follow) I hope to dispel some of these fallacies and revisionist views and hope that some common ground or resolve can finally be reached.

First, let us discuss the issue of Brockes’ Guardian article that Ed Vulliamy refers to in his open letter.  While it is true that article was retracted and The Guardian issued an apology to Chomsky for the misrepresentation within the article, the issues regarding Chomsky’s support of revisionist views and his opinion that Ed Vulliamy was “probably wrong” in regards to the Trnopolje have not been dispelled by Chomsky in his formal complaint to The Guardian (however, it should be noted that Chomsky did object to the whole article based on the one misrepresentation that he does defend).  Nor are the issues solely based on the Brockes’ article, but are also based on Chomsky’s own confirmations about defending Johnstone’s free speech. 

Certainly, Chomsky has the right to defend Johnstone’s freedom of speech.  He has the right to agree with her and reflect that agreement in his public opinions, which he certainly does as will be demonstrated later.  However, Chomsky cannot be afforded the luxury of having opinions that go both ways.  In Chomsky’s formal complaint, located on Chomsky’s own site, he states:

“In the open letter, readily available on the internet (and the only source), I went through the charges one by one, checked them against the book, and found that they all ranged from serious misrepresentation to outright fabrication. I then took — and take — the position that it is completely wrong to withdraw a book because the press charges (falsely) that it does not conform to approved doctrine. And I do regret that “I didn’t do it strongly enough,” the words Brockes managed to quote correctly. In the interview, whatever Johnstone may have said about Srebrenica never came up, and is entirely irrelevant in any event, at least to anyone with a minimal appreciation of freedom of speech.”

Further, The Guardian states in its own retraction:

“Both Prof Chomsky and Ms Johnstone, who has also written to the Guardian, have made it clear that Prof Chomsky’s support for Ms Johnstone, made in the form of an open letter with other signatories, related entirely to her right to freedom of speech.”

 Interestingly, Chomsky’s own site which offers several hyperlinks in his reprint of the Brockes’ article offers no link to the “readily available on the internet” open letter which is at the heart of the issue.  It is 2009, 4 years later, and through extensive digging I came up with no open letter defending Johnstone on my own, but was forwarded this link.  These are some highlights with my commentary from what I am told is the formal complaint to Ordfront (italics bold: Chomsky; italics: commentaries; normal font: Samaha):

 “I have known her for many years, have read the book, and feel that it is quite serious and important.”

In my personal opinion that statement goes above and beyond defending Johnstone’s freedom of speech and is an introduction to endorsement of Johnstone’s work which is highlighted in other portions.

“(1) ‘According to her it cannot be a matter of genocide when women and children are spared. But to me it is obvious that genocide and crimes against humanity have been committed in Srebrenica…’”

“Reference is apparently to Johnstone’s statement (p. 117) refuting the claim that the charge of “genocide” is demonstrated by the fact that the Serbs who conquered Srebrenica offered safe passage to women and children. In response to this absurd claim, she writes: “However, one thing should be obvious: one does not commit `genocide’ by sparing women and children.

I do not see how her entirely appropriate comment justifies the charge in (1)”

Can someone explain to me how Johnstone’s comment does not justify the charge in (1)? It certainly appears to me that Johnstone is at the very least insinuating genocide denial and that Chomsky’s referral to Johnstone’s quote as “appropriate comment” has the appearance of supporting that insinuation. 

Furthermore, I am not aware of any definition of genocide that exempts an action from genocide because one gender was spared.  Instead, an act of genocide has taken place if one gender of the target population is specifically targeted for extermination and the other is left alone.  The reason for this is: if one gender is eliminated procreation amongst the target group is hindered which is part of a systematic plan and recognized by the UN.  Furthermore, Lemkin, who coined the word genocide further details that complete destruction of a group does not need to take place.  This faulty logic of genocide being exempt because women and children have been spared has been attempted at the Krstic genocide trial and has failed.  The court has ruled that the females and children being spared has no bearing on whether or not genocide took place.

 “3) ‘Johnstone asserts that more effort has gone into exaggerating the number of dead than into identifying and caclulating the actual number of victims, that there was never any real wish to find out how many were killed and who they were. She suggests that several thousand hade fled and survived.’”

“I read that section too. I am aware of no evidence — of course, meaning evidence available to her at the time she wrote — that the statements she actually made in this regard (as distinct from those attributed to her) are incorrect.”

Chomsky should have the academic integrity to distinguish the actual statements that Johnstone made as opposed to the statements that were “attributed to her”.  We should keep in mind that these statements are made in November of 2005.  If Johnstone has suggested that thousands fled and survived, then the onus is upon Johnstone to prove those allegations since during the time of her writing thousands of bodies had already been discovered in mass graves.  Evidence and trials have already established the contrary.  At this point it is not a matter of innocent until proven guilty since a record of the event has been established.  The burden of proof lies with Johnstone – it is simply not acceptable to place this burden of proof on others and reflects poorly on the academia that insists otherwise.

“’… the revisionist author Diana Johnstone, foreground figure in the slander-convicted magazine “Living Marxism”. She insists that the Serb atrocities – ethnic cleansing, torture camps, mass executions – are western propaganda. That is also what Slobodan Milosevic and his ilk profess. Thus the Ordfront left is suddenly travelling in the same compartment as postcommunist fascism.’”

(…)

“But putting that aside, let’s now consider his reasoning. Johnstone argues — and, in fact, clearly demonstrates — that a good deal of what has been charged has no basis in fact, and much of it is pure fabrication. For van Reis, this is outrageous.”

Again, this certainly appears to be a clear endorsement of Johnstone’s revisionist views.

“A final comment on “genocide.” People are free to use the term “genocide” as they please, and to condemn Racak and Srebrenica, say, as genocidal if they like. But then they have a simple responsibility: Inform us of their bitter denunciations of the incomparably worse “genocide” carried out with the strong backing of the US and UK at the very same moment as Racak. Say, the massacre at Liquica, with perhaps up to 200 civilians murdered, one of many (unlike Racak), in a country under military occupation and hence a grave war crime (unlike Racak), and in this case simply a massacre of civilians, without even a pretext of resistance (again unlike Racak).”

This is circumstantial rhetoric that has no place within the defense of freedom of speech.  More so, I find it extremely disturbing that an academic would use sarcasm by saying that the term “genocide” can be used liberally, to refer to Racak and Srebrenica as  “say, as genocidal, if they like”, implying otherwise, and then refer back to “200 civilians” and imply that Liquica does qualify as a genocide. 

Mr. Chomsky, I have lost friends and family due to Serb aggression on Bosnia and I am not an academic, however I have always been careful in the way I use the term genocide in terms of the aggression that took place on the Bosnian population.  This is not a term to be taken lightly, nor is it a term that should lose all meaning due to academic inclinations or political tactics.  Perhaps the 200 civilians that were killed in Liquica qualifies as a genocide, to be honest I am not informed of the matter to the same extent that you are informed, but myself and the whole of Bosnia are aware of the over 8,000 that lost their lives at Srebrenica.  Perhaps you feel the need to incorporate Srebrenica into your global power and media package, but realities usually have no perfect boxes to fit into.  Instead we are left to sorting the pieces and trying to make sense of it all.

Certainly, the examples and quotes provided here demonstrate that the issues Ed Vulliamy presents in his Open Letter to Amnesty International are valid regardless of the lack of citations and quotations within his letter.  It should also be noted that I do not believe that the letter was intended to read as a new media format with hyperlinks. 

To conclude part I, Chomsky claims to be simply defending freedom of speech on one hand and supporting revisionist views on the other; this is problematic.  Perhaps though, common ground lies in the very issue of revisionist views.  Chomsky clearly demonstrates his own dislike of misrepresentation and fabrications in his own open letter to the Guardian regarding the Brockes article.  In this case though, the accuracy or inaccuracy puts history at issue, which in turn discourages or facilitates future atrocities on the Bosnian population.  I can’t imagine that anyone would want to facilitate another “massacre” (quotes are mine for emphasis – I consider the worldview of Srebrenica as genocide to be acceptable).

Although, I feel that the issue of Trnopolje, one of many camps of the war, and the ITN/LM/Knightly fiasco brought up by Herman and Peterson with all of its misrepresentations and fabrications is a red herring which has repeatedly been debunked and is irrelevant to the issue of Amnesty International inviting Chomsky to speak at a human rights event – I will focus on the issue for the purposes of personally recording the continued propagation of these fallacies, along with the facts that disqualify the argument for my blog in part II.

“after Jugo“, my new multimedia project, is now online!

check it out at www.afterjugo.com

and leave a comment, I want to hear your feedback!

Letter from Umm Ibrahim, Wife of an Italian Terror Suspect

Source : Helptheprisoners.org

Date : 19th November 2009

Asalam alaykum. My name is umm ibrahim and I pray that this letter finds you in good health and imaan and high spirits. I am writing to you to tell you some problems that wives of accused muslims face.

My husband is in prison at the moment facing terrorism charges. From the moment they arrested him, everything changed for me and my family, and the kids as well. I always praise Allah(swt) still though for the favours he has given to me. I am your sister, wearing the niqab, and already this is a big problem in this country. Everyone looks at you with suspicion and prejudice. I didn’t mind too much before, but since my husband was arrested they start to shout at me and insult me, in front of my kids on the street or on the bus. The Italian authorities are trying to take my children away from me because their father is in prison. The landlord also wants to kick us out of the house, as soon as he heard my husband was arrested. We are also entitled to some state benefits, but they refuse to provide any help whatsoever.

In Italy, there is no organisation to help us, because anyone who does help is threatened by the government. We have four children, aged 10,7,6 and 4, 3 boys one girl. My husbands family in his country (Tunisia) suffer a lot of persecution from the Tunisian government. One of his brothers has been tortured and humiliated by the Tunisian security services. His whole family are under stress continuously.

My husband has the same nationality as me, Bosnian, but the Bosnian government took away his citizenship, so that they can deport him to Tunisia. In Tunisia he has already been sentenced to 50 years imprisonment in absentenia.

Every day is a hard day for me in this country (Italy). The neighbours, the state are all against me and my family in every way. It’s a lot of oppression against me and my family, and only for reason : that I am a muslim.

My brother I have many battles to fight in this country every day, may Allah(st) help me. I am just writing to you so that other muslims around the world may know my story, and if they can help in any way whatsoever. Imagine I had a court hearing with the government, they tried to take my children away from me because I was wearing the niqab! With my husband in prison it is so hard to fight this by myself.

May Allah(swt) give us all the patience to continue, ameen.

Wa Salamu Alaikum, may Allah(swt) give the good end, ameen.

Umm Ibrahim

p.s. If any of the sisters wish to write to Umm Ibrahim, please send an email to helptheprisoners@yahoo.co.uk

David Osler has a good piece on the potential for trouble in Bosnia at the moment – good enough that it was the first piece I had seen in the blogosphere, at any rate.  I’d just like to add some additional information though to what he has already said.

The start of the problems was in September, when the High Represenative, the international governor for Bosnia, attempted to push through a series of reforms.  The main contention by the Serbian Republika Srpska was over regulation and control of the electric monopoly, and while the High Representative can theoretically pass and impose any law without Bosnian authorities having any say over it, actually doing so is rather difficult, because it reinforces the status of the country as internationally controlled, rather than the independent state most of us would like it to be.

Furthermore, the EU and USA bypassed the High Representative to carry out their own attempts at breaking the deadlock, which did not turn out too well.  And with elections coming up next year, things are likely to only get worse, as tensions and heated rhetoric increase.  Dodik is, as David points out, openly talking about secession, a move that would almost certainly lead to violence.

What then can be done?  As far as I can see, there are three options:

Strengthen the office of the High Representative and increase troop deployments to Bosnia.  The downside of this is that it shows Bosnia is an international protectorate and any attempts at political viability for the near future will almost certainly be futile.

Bypass the High Representative and replace them with an EU Representative with a stronger mandate and greater executive power.  The financial sticks and carrots the EU has to hand, as well as talks about membership candidacy, can be used to manage and resolve the political crisis.  The problem here is that Bosnia already recieves a lot of aid, and leaders on both sides may well resent attempts to give international agencies further authority over the country.

The third, and least palatable option to me, is to allow the secession to go ahead, but to manage it via international agencies, use NATO and EUFOR troops to keep the peace and hope like hell that no-one does anything stupid.  The problem with that is fairly obvious, in that the Republika Srpska has a large Bosniak population (much more so than the Serbian population of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and that such a move would likely trigger mass migration back into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Managing such an event would be almost impossible, and ethnic tensions would be running high enough to ensure that someone would end up doing something stupid.  Furthermore, it would likely have a negative impact on other ex-Yugoslavian states as well.

I prefer, given those choices, to take the second option.  It has the greatest chance of keeping Bosnian political development on track and keeping the peace.  But I have some very serious doubts about it succeeding.

Ali Pasha Mosque

during evening

feels like home

Ali Pasha’s Mosque was constructed in Sarajevo during 1560-61 as a vakuf (legacy or perpetual endowment) of Hadim Ali-pasha, the former Ottoman governor of the Budapest administrative district (budimski begler-beg) and the Bosnian district (pašaluk). The mosque was built according to the classical Istanbul architectural style. The dome covers the prayer area and three small domes cover the cloister. Because of its noble proportions it stands at the top of the scale of all sub-dome mosques that have been constructed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the framework of the complex there is a domed burial site (turbe) with two sarcophagus of Avdo Sumbul (d.1915) and Behdžet Mutevelić (d.1915), Gajret activists who died in the dungeons of Arad. The Ali Pasha Mosque was heavily damaged by Serbian forces during the conflict of the early 1990s, especially the dome. The most recent renovation of the mosque occurred in 2004 and in January 2005, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a decision to add the Ali Pasha Mosque to the list of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BiH, Istočna Bosna, 2009. Rijeka Drina

BiH, Mioča, 2009. Kemal Hasečić i njegova majka povratnici u selo Mioč kod Rudog

BiH, Istočna Bosna, 2009.

BiH, Rudo, 2009. Spomenik poginulim Srbima u ratu 1992-1995

BiH, Višegrad, 2009. Pomoć bošnjačkim povratnicima u Višegrad i okolna mjesta

BiH, Goražde, 2009.

BiH, Višegrad, 2009. Ostaci minirane kuće od strane Srpske vojske u ratu 1992-1995

BiH, Višegrad, 2009. Most Mehmed-paše Sokolovića na rijeci Drini

FOTO: Vranac Mahir

• UN debates sanctions on Eritrea for backing Somali Islamist rebels and threatening Djibouti [Times South Africa]
• EU sign $1bn development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace [BBC online]
• Rep. Jim McDermott introduces bill aiming to curb that trade US trade in conflict minerals [Seattle Times]
• Officially sanctioned Northern Italian ethnic cleansing [Independent]
• Diplomatic Row between Thailand and Cambodia over Shinawatra [Bangkok Post]
• Armenia will be ready to make concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh problem: Ukrainian analyst [Today.Az]
• Corruption threatens global economic recovery, greatly challenges countries in conflict [Transparency International]
• Bosnia’s Chaos Continues [International Crisis Group]
• Berlin Wall: 223 dead. Wall that separates the USA from Mexico: 5.6 thousand dead [Pravda]
• USSR Still Respected Internationally for Its Bombs and Guns [Pravda]

-

Poet: Aleksa Santic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Lyrics with Translation:

Sinoć, kad se vratih iz topla hamama,
Prođoh pokraj bašte staroga imama;
Kad tamo, u bašti, u hladu jasmina,
S ibrikom u ruci stajaše Emina.

Last night, returning from the warm hamam,
I passed by the garden of the old imam,
And lo, in the garden, in the shade of a jasmine,
There with a pitcher in her hand stood Emina.

-

Ja kakva je, pusta! Tako mi imana,
Stid je ne bi bilo da je kod sultana!
Pa još kad se šeće i plećima kreće…
- Ni hodžin mi zapis više pomoć neće!…

What beauty! By my Muslim faith I could swear,
She wouldn’t be ashamed if she were at the sultan’s!
And the way she walks and her shoulders move . . .
–Not even a hodja’s amulet could help me!

-

Ja joj nazvah selam. Al’ moga mi dina,
Ne šće ni da čuje lijepa Emina,
No u srebren ibrik zahitila vode
Pa po bašti đule zalivati ode;

I offered her salaam, but by my faith,
Beautiful Emina wouldn’t even hear it.
Instead, scooping water in her silver pitcher,
Around the garden she went to water the roses.

-

S grana vjetar duhnu pa niz pleći puste
Rasplete joj one pletenice guste,
Zamirisa kosa ko zumbuli plavi,
A meni se krenu bururet u glavi!

A wind blew from the branches down her lovely shoulders
Unraveling those thick braids of hers.
Her hair gave off a scent of blue hyacinths,
Making me giddy and confused!

-

Malo ne posrnuh, mojega mi dina,
No meni ne dođe lijepa Emina.
Samo me je jednom pogledala mrko,
Niti haje, alčak, što za njome crko’!…

I nearly stumbled, I swear by my faith,
But beautiful Emina didn’t come to me.
She only gave me a frowning look,
Not caring, the naughty one, that I’m crazy for her!

-

-

-

Himzo Polovina

-

-

Arieb Azhar

-

-

FIFA got its way last night as France and Portgual both progressed through the play-offs and into next year’s World Cup.

Although Russia succumbed to Slovenia, leaving Guus Hiddink questioning if it was really worth leaving Chelsea, seeding the play-offs worked out for FIFA’s bean counters, as the two heavyweights made it through.

Portugal negotiated their way past Bosnia with surprising ease, even without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo’s status as the world’s best player has resulted in many saying the World Cup would be significantly worse without him in it and I agree, but not for this reason.

I am in favour Portugal’s qualification, as it will surely reduce the chance of Ronaldo being photographed in his tighty-whiteys next summer.

France’s victory over Ireland was infinitely more controversial, as Thierry Henry’s juggling allowed William Gallas to grab the crucial equaliser, proving that the “luck of the Irish” is an urban myth like Saddam Hussein’s gay porn career.

Today the FAI called on FIFA to replay the match, which could be staged in Sudan for no known reason, as with the Algeria v Egypt play-off.

There is more chance of Sepp Blatter impregnating Giovanni Trapattoni than there is of him agreeing to replay the match.

There will no World Cup newbies appearing in South Africa, but New Zealand only having to defeat New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu and Bahrain to claim a place shows that there will be much weaker sides than Ireland at the tournament.

Ireland claimed two draws against reigning champions Italy in qualifying, whereas New Zealand were defeated 2-0 by Fiji.

Greece and Ukraine competed for Europe’s final qualifying slot, with Greece sneaking through 1-0 on aggregate.

Greece, as Euro 2004 champions, were the seeded side, but in Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine had the only past or present superstar in either team.

Greece has never produced a footballing superstar and after a history of producing superstar mathematicians, philosophers and scientists to begin doing so now would take dumbing down to a new extreme.

Regardless they will take their place in South Africa, along with France, Portugal, New Zealand, North Korea and Honduras, but alas not Ireland.

“Esta é a resposta aos abutres que me criticaram. Mas tive muitos que sempre me foram dando força e que apreciam o meu trabalho” Eduardo in Record 19/11/2009

“Por vezes merecemos as críticas. Há que reconhecê-lo. Mas estamos lá e isso é o mais importante. Era muito importante demonstrarmos uma boa atitude. Conseguimos fazer um bom jogo. Fomos superiores e qualificámo-nos” Ricardo Carvalho in Record 19/11/2009

“Há sempre críticas, estamos habituados, mas ficamos mais fortes.” Simão in A Bola 19/11/2009

A estas declarações de Simão e Eduardo podíamos juntar umas tantas de Cristiano Ronaldo (já para não falar de imagens que há a mandar calar o público). É por isto que há muito digo que esta estória de quem é a braçadeira de capitão já cheira mal, e que a mesma deveria ser entregue a Ricardo Carvalho, pelo perfil, pela liderança e indiscutivelmente por ser o melhor jogador da selecção nacional.

Lá estamos de malas aviadas rumo à África do Sul. Ontem diria mesmo que os “patinhos feios” desta selecção até foram dos melhores em campo. O facto de Deco não ter estado disponível para jogar os 90 minutos, acabou por ser benéfico para a nossa selecção, uma vez que Tiago a par de Raúl Meireles e Pepe foram a chave do sucesso de ontem. Diria mesmo que aquilo que mais se temia, e que pudesse prejudicar o estilo de jogo da selecção, o relvado, acabou por jogar a nosso favor, uma vez que, sem argumentos técnicos a Bósnia adoptou desde o início do jogo o pontapé para o ar, directo para os avançados, obrigando estes a jogar sempre de costas para a baliza esperando as entradas dos médios. Portugal soube defender sempre de uma forma solidária, não permitindo que a Bósnia pudesse impor o seu futebol.
No entanto, uma linha, embora ténue separa as boas equipas, das equipas assim-assim. Podíamos ter ganho por 4 ou 5, mas acabámos por ganhar apenas por um. Ganhámos é certo, mas a displicência com que se falhou golos na parte final, faz com que não passemos de uma selecção assim-assim. Compreende-se. É a diferença de ter um Luis Fabiano, um Torres, um Gilardino, um Toni, um Villa ou ter um Liedson (bom jogo ontem), um Hugo Almeida ou um Edinho.

From Our Own Correspondent: report from Ed Stourton on the international talks in Bosnia which started while we were there.  Is Bosnia a protectorate?   The Bosnia report is 5′ 5″ into the programme.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsng