Noam Shalit for Israel's 62nd Independence Day:
Showing posts with label Tikkun Olam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tikkun Olam. Show all posts
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I Am Israel.
From YouTube's Putting It Mildly channel, January 24, 2010:
(turn up the sound)
I Am Israel.
I was born millennia before I was renamed Palestine by the conquering Romans, and before the british decided to turn my Eastern lands into Jordan, My people, the Jews, maintained communities here for three thousand years, that is until the arabs decided to massacre those Jews in 1920 (Nabi musa riots) and 1929 (Hebron massacre). hundreds of civilians were murdered, most of them women and children. Meanwhile, their brother Arab states exiled 1,000,000 Arabic Jews, Erasing their History.
I Am Israel - I've been attacked four times by five Arab armies in 60 years. I am a survivor, I won every war they waged against me. I told the Arabs who lived on my land that they were welcome to stay, but their brothers said, "leave temporarily while the Jews are taken care of". I have been offering a message of peace since the day I was born. But my enemies answered only in bombs, bullets and blood - our own, and theirs.
Realizing they could not defeat me with arms, my enemies turned to lies. Pallywood Production.
I Am Israel - time and time again my name is smeared. Though like the Muhamad Al-Dura hoax, each lie is eventually disproven. My enemies continue to claim that I am committing "genocide". Tell me, is giving educational opportunities to Palestinian Arabs "genocide" ? 20% of the students in Haifa University are Arabs. If I exiled all the Arabs in 1948, why are 20% of my citizens Arabs who vote ? Why did I give up the entire Sinai and the Gaza strip, uprooting my own people from their home, only for the HOPE of peace ?
I Am Israel - In combat ops, I risk the lives of my teenagers to minimize civilian casualties. I make every attempt to target only fighters, often putting my soldiers in harm. In war, I drop leaflets on areas to be attacked, warning civilians to evacuate - Has any other army in the history of mankind done this for it's enemy ?
I waited 8 years to stop Hamas from it's daily rocket attacks, some fell on my kindergartens, I am patient, but my patience is not infinite.
I Am Israel - I discover new medicines to treat devastating diseases. I've developed technology for the creation of Intel, anti-virus, and cellphones. And I lead the world in scientific publications per capita.
I send humanitarian missions to developing countries, including Muslim countries. I have absorbed hundreds of Muslim refugees who faced genocide in Darfur - refugees no Muslim state would take.
I Am Israel - one of the smallest countries in the world, and probably the most stubborn - I refuse to give up hope for peace. My friends support me not because of any lobby, but because they see the truth, I am the heart of the Middle East, and the hope for it's future.
My prophet said, "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation", and I will try...
And try...
And try, until those words are true.
Because, I Am Israel.
(turn up the sound)
I Am Israel.
I was born millennia before I was renamed Palestine by the conquering Romans, and before the british decided to turn my Eastern lands into Jordan, My people, the Jews, maintained communities here for three thousand years, that is until the arabs decided to massacre those Jews in 1920 (Nabi musa riots) and 1929 (Hebron massacre). hundreds of civilians were murdered, most of them women and children. Meanwhile, their brother Arab states exiled 1,000,000 Arabic Jews, Erasing their History.
I Am Israel - I've been attacked four times by five Arab armies in 60 years. I am a survivor, I won every war they waged against me. I told the Arabs who lived on my land that they were welcome to stay, but their brothers said, "leave temporarily while the Jews are taken care of". I have been offering a message of peace since the day I was born. But my enemies answered only in bombs, bullets and blood - our own, and theirs.
Realizing they could not defeat me with arms, my enemies turned to lies. Pallywood Production.
I Am Israel - time and time again my name is smeared. Though like the Muhamad Al-Dura hoax, each lie is eventually disproven. My enemies continue to claim that I am committing "genocide". Tell me, is giving educational opportunities to Palestinian Arabs "genocide" ? 20% of the students in Haifa University are Arabs. If I exiled all the Arabs in 1948, why are 20% of my citizens Arabs who vote ? Why did I give up the entire Sinai and the Gaza strip, uprooting my own people from their home, only for the HOPE of peace ?
I Am Israel - In combat ops, I risk the lives of my teenagers to minimize civilian casualties. I make every attempt to target only fighters, often putting my soldiers in harm. In war, I drop leaflets on areas to be attacked, warning civilians to evacuate - Has any other army in the history of mankind done this for it's enemy ?
I waited 8 years to stop Hamas from it's daily rocket attacks, some fell on my kindergartens, I am patient, but my patience is not infinite.
I Am Israel - I discover new medicines to treat devastating diseases. I've developed technology for the creation of Intel, anti-virus, and cellphones. And I lead the world in scientific publications per capita.
I send humanitarian missions to developing countries, including Muslim countries. I have absorbed hundreds of Muslim refugees who faced genocide in Darfur - refugees no Muslim state would take.
I Am Israel - one of the smallest countries in the world, and probably the most stubborn - I refuse to give up hope for peace. My friends support me not because of any lobby, but because they see the truth, I am the heart of the Middle East, and the hope for it's future.
My prophet said, "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation", and I will try...
And try...
And try, until those words are true.
Because, I Am Israel.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Israel to the Rescue in Haiti
From DAILY ALERT Monday, January 25, 2010
Israel to the Rescue - David Horovitz Editor-in-Chief (Jerusalem Post)
While other countries dithered, countries both nearer and far better resourced, Israel utilized the experience born of its previous earthquake rescue missions - to Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Mexico - and got down to business in Haiti. Our "light unto the nations" Haitian relief effort encapsulated much of what is best about our country. It demonstrated our heartfelt desire to come to the assistance of others in the time of their greatest need, with no desire or expectation of reward.
The Israeli mission to Haiti also underlined our capacity to think and act fast and effectively - to pull together and surmount obstacles at a time of crisis. While relief teams from more than two dozen countries were running into all kinds of logistical difficulties, the Israeli teams, quietly, efficiently, and with a minimum of fuss, somehow circumvented or cleared all the obstacles, and went to work.
There is one thing that our Haiti rescue outreach made emphatically clear, and that the Palestinians might want to ponder: If you're in trouble and you're not trying to kill us, there's no one like the Israelis to help you out.
See also A Medical Mission of Pride and Promise - Dr. Jonathan Halevy, director-general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post)
From CBS to CNN to MSNBC, wide-eyed medical reporters have been witnessing the Israeli operation in Haiti with an underlying tone of combined admiration and jealousy. With relief delegations of all shapes and sizes, it's the Israelis who travel halfway around the world and within hours have a fully operational hospital in place. Journalists ask outright why anyone else can't be doing this.
Admittedly, our adeptness in launching these types of operations stems from a history of confronting hostilities. Those of us involved in emergency management and disaster response know all too well that Israel has a unique advantage over most, if not all, nations in this discipline. Our protocols and emergency departments have become models for hospitals all around the world. The IDF Home Front Command has made it a principal training objective to remain ever-ready for all types of disasters.
The world has quickly learned that the "successes" we are achieving in Haiti have come because we appreciated the continuous need for this type of training. Even more so, it is recognizing that we have a role in contributing to the greater welfare of the international community.
See also Video: The "Legendary" Israeli Medical Unit in Haiti - Diane Sawyer (ABC News)
Israel to the Rescue - David Horovitz Editor-in-Chief (Jerusalem Post)
While other countries dithered, countries both nearer and far better resourced, Israel utilized the experience born of its previous earthquake rescue missions - to Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Mexico - and got down to business in Haiti. Our "light unto the nations" Haitian relief effort encapsulated much of what is best about our country. It demonstrated our heartfelt desire to come to the assistance of others in the time of their greatest need, with no desire or expectation of reward.
The Israeli mission to Haiti also underlined our capacity to think and act fast and effectively - to pull together and surmount obstacles at a time of crisis. While relief teams from more than two dozen countries were running into all kinds of logistical difficulties, the Israeli teams, quietly, efficiently, and with a minimum of fuss, somehow circumvented or cleared all the obstacles, and went to work.
There is one thing that our Haiti rescue outreach made emphatically clear, and that the Palestinians might want to ponder: If you're in trouble and you're not trying to kill us, there's no one like the Israelis to help you out.
See also A Medical Mission of Pride and Promise - Dr. Jonathan Halevy, director-general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post)
From CBS to CNN to MSNBC, wide-eyed medical reporters have been witnessing the Israeli operation in Haiti with an underlying tone of combined admiration and jealousy. With relief delegations of all shapes and sizes, it's the Israelis who travel halfway around the world and within hours have a fully operational hospital in place. Journalists ask outright why anyone else can't be doing this.
Admittedly, our adeptness in launching these types of operations stems from a history of confronting hostilities. Those of us involved in emergency management and disaster response know all too well that Israel has a unique advantage over most, if not all, nations in this discipline. Our protocols and emergency departments have become models for hospitals all around the world. The IDF Home Front Command has made it a principal training objective to remain ever-ready for all types of disasters.
The world has quickly learned that the "successes" we are achieving in Haiti have come because we appreciated the continuous need for this type of training. Even more so, it is recognizing that we have a role in contributing to the greater welfare of the international community.
See also Video: The "Legendary" Israeli Medical Unit in Haiti - Diane Sawyer (ABC News)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Haiti and Ethiopian Jewry Thank God for the State of Israel
From THE JERUSALEM POST, Jan. 20, 2010, by Michael Freund:
...amid the rubble-strewn streets of Port-au-Prince, three IDF rescue teams carefully searched through the ruins of the Haitian capital for survivors of the devastating January 12 earthquake. Racing against the clock, these young Jews in uniform, accompanied by specially-trained canines, heroically sorted through mounds of debris and wreckage to pull the wounded to safety.
...one could only marvel at the valor and courage of our soldiers, as they risked their lives to save those of others, in the process bringing honor to us all.
Meanwhile, the field hospital established by the IDF to treat victims of the disaster was quickly making a name for itself as the best-run and most fully-equipped operation in the area. Set up last Friday on a soccer field, the complex boasts 40 doctors and 24 nurses, as well as teams of paramedics, X-ray equipment and personnel, an emergency room, a children's ward, a maternity ward and even a pharmacy.
....Though a vast gulf separates Israel from Haiti, with more than 10,500 kilometers of ocean lying between us, the Jewish people demonstrated that their extended hand can bridge any gap and traverse any chasm when it comes to saving lives.
BUT THE residents of the Caribbean island nation were not the only beneficiaries of Israel's humanity this week. Much closer to home, we were witness to the arrival of 82 members of the Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity centuries ago.
Landing at Ben-Gurion Airport early Tuesday morning, the new immigrants were greeted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver.
It was a scene that should fill every Jewish heart with pride, as the remnants of Ethiopian Jewry complete the millennial-old journey back to the land of their ancestors. Hundreds more are expected to arrive over the next few months, as the government finally moves towards fulfilling its previous promises to allow the remaining members of the community to make aliya.
And so, even as our foes noisily continue to assert that Zionism is racism, Israel stands alone in embracing a black African community and welcoming it into our midst.
So it was quite a week for Jewish heroism. Over the course of a few days, the State of Israel saved lives and saved Jews.
It was, in every respect, Israel's finest hour...
...Thank God for the State of Israel. Without it, the world would be a far less noble place.
...amid the rubble-strewn streets of Port-au-Prince, three IDF rescue teams carefully searched through the ruins of the Haitian capital for survivors of the devastating January 12 earthquake. Racing against the clock, these young Jews in uniform, accompanied by specially-trained canines, heroically sorted through mounds of debris and wreckage to pull the wounded to safety.
...one could only marvel at the valor and courage of our soldiers, as they risked their lives to save those of others, in the process bringing honor to us all.
Meanwhile, the field hospital established by the IDF to treat victims of the disaster was quickly making a name for itself as the best-run and most fully-equipped operation in the area. Set up last Friday on a soccer field, the complex boasts 40 doctors and 24 nurses, as well as teams of paramedics, X-ray equipment and personnel, an emergency room, a children's ward, a maternity ward and even a pharmacy.
....Though a vast gulf separates Israel from Haiti, with more than 10,500 kilometers of ocean lying between us, the Jewish people demonstrated that their extended hand can bridge any gap and traverse any chasm when it comes to saving lives.
BUT THE residents of the Caribbean island nation were not the only beneficiaries of Israel's humanity this week. Much closer to home, we were witness to the arrival of 82 members of the Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity centuries ago.
Landing at Ben-Gurion Airport early Tuesday morning, the new immigrants were greeted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver.
It was a scene that should fill every Jewish heart with pride, as the remnants of Ethiopian Jewry complete the millennial-old journey back to the land of their ancestors. Hundreds more are expected to arrive over the next few months, as the government finally moves towards fulfilling its previous promises to allow the remaining members of the community to make aliya.
And so, even as our foes noisily continue to assert that Zionism is racism, Israel stands alone in embracing a black African community and welcoming it into our midst.
So it was quite a week for Jewish heroism. Over the course of a few days, the State of Israel saved lives and saved Jews.
It was, in every respect, Israel's finest hour...
...Thank God for the State of Israel. Without it, the world would be a far less noble place.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Haiti: Israel's Disproportionate Response
From American Thinker January 18, 2010, by Peggy Shapiro:
In the midst of the tragedy and chaos in the Haitian capital, Israeli doctors...delivered a healthy baby boy in an IDF field hospital. When the baby's grateful mother, Gubilande Jean Michel saw her newborn son, alive and well, she named him Israel in gratitude to the people and nation who brought her this blessing.
Little Israel is one of the hundreds who have been saved by Israeli doctors or rescue teams. A search and rescue team from the ZAKA Israel's International Rescue Unit pulled eight Haitian college students from a collapsed eight-story university building. Despite its small size, Israel sent a large contingent of highly-trained aid workers to quake-stricken Haiti. Two jumbo jets carrying more than 220 doctors, nurses, civil engineers, and other Israeli army personnel, including a rescue team and field hospital, were among the first rescue teams to arrive in Haiti. In fact, they were the first foreign backup team to set up medical treatment at the partially collapsed main hospital in Port-au-Prince. Yigal Palmor, Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "It's a large delegation and we're prepared to send more."
The international agencies that condemn Israel for its "disproportionate response" when it is attacked are not mentioning Israel's disproportionate response to human suffering. The U.S. has pledged 100 million and sent supplies and personnel. The U.K. pledged $10 million and sent 64 firemen and 8 volunteers.China, a country with a population of 1,325,639,982 compared to Israel's 7.5 million sent 50 rescuers and seven journalists. The 25 Arab League nations sent nothing.
In the midst of the tragedy and chaos in the Haitian capital, Israeli doctors...delivered a healthy baby boy in an IDF field hospital. When the baby's grateful mother, Gubilande Jean Michel saw her newborn son, alive and well, she named him Israel in gratitude to the people and nation who brought her this blessing.
Little Israel is one of the hundreds who have been saved by Israeli doctors or rescue teams. A search and rescue team from the ZAKA Israel's International Rescue Unit pulled eight Haitian college students from a collapsed eight-story university building. Despite its small size, Israel sent a large contingent of highly-trained aid workers to quake-stricken Haiti. Two jumbo jets carrying more than 220 doctors, nurses, civil engineers, and other Israeli army personnel, including a rescue team and field hospital, were among the first rescue teams to arrive in Haiti. In fact, they were the first foreign backup team to set up medical treatment at the partially collapsed main hospital in Port-au-Prince. Yigal Palmor, Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "It's a large delegation and we're prepared to send more."
The international agencies that condemn Israel for its "disproportionate response" when it is attacked are not mentioning Israel's disproportionate response to human suffering. The U.S. has pledged 100 million and sent supplies and personnel. The U.K. pledged $10 million and sent 64 firemen and 8 volunteers.China, a country with a population of 1,325,639,982 compared to Israel's 7.5 million sent 50 rescuers and seven journalists. The 25 Arab League nations sent nothing.
...At the start of Sunday's regular Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli team had already treated hundreds of patients. "I think that this is in the best tradition of the Jewish People; this is the true covenant of the State of Israel and the Jewish People," he said. "This follows operations we have carried out in Kenya and Turkey; despite being a small country, we have responded with a big heart. The fact is, I know, that this was an expression of our Jewish heritage and the Jewish ethic of helping one's fellow. "...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
William Cooper: Original Australian, Global Warrior and Righteous Amongst the Nations
From ABC National Radio "Awaye!" programme, 5 December 2009:
One Blood: the story of William Cooper
One Blood: the story of William Cooper
William Cooper is counted among the righteous who saved Jews during the Holocaust. In late 1938, this elder statesman of the Aboriginal rights movement delivered a letter of protest to the German consulate in Melbourne as synagogues burned across Germany in the aftermath of the infamous Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht.
Freelance producer Jessica Noske-Turner takes us on a journey from the former Aboriginal mission station at Cummeragunga to the Forest of Martyrs outside Jerusalem.
(The ABC page also has a link to a moving 2-minute video of the tree-planting ceremony in Israel, using Murray River soil and water, to honour William Cooper, in the presence of his descendents.)
Background from JTA, April 28, 2009, SYDNEY, Australia:
An Australian Aboriginal leader who staged a remarkable protest against the Nazis was honored in Israel.
On Dec. 6, 1938 -- just weeks after the Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany -- William Cooper led a delegation of members of the Australian Aboriginal League to the German Consulate in Melbourne to hand over a petition which protested the “cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany.”
Cooper, who was 77 at the time, died in 1941. Last December, on the 70th anniversary of his little-known protest, his grandson, Alfred “Boydie” Turner, and dozens of other members of the Yorta Yorta tribe gathered in State Parliament in Melbourne. In front of Victorian Premier John Brumby, Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, lawmakers, diplomats and Jewish leaders, Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem presented a certificate to Turner stating that 70 Australian trees were to be planted in Israel in honor of William Cooper.
On Tuesday, five trees were planted at the Martyrs’ Forest near Jerusalem; the remaining 65 trees will be planted in the Australia-Israel Friendship Forest. Turner and about 12 members of William Cooper’s extended family flew to Israel for the ceremony.
Among the dignitaries attending the ceremony, organized by the Israeli Embassy and the Jewish National Fund of Australia, were Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, KKL-JNF world chairman Efi Stenzler, Australian Ambassador to Israel James Larsen and Rotem.
Members of the Aboriginal community staged a ceremony at the Aborigines Advancement League in Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon to honor Cooper's "brave stance against the oppression of the Jews."
Documents
- William Cooper writes to the Prime Minister-elect, Robert G. Menzies, 1939
- A police surveillance report on William Cooper, 1933
- William Cooper's death certificate, 1941
- http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/doc/scan_WC_handwritten.pdf
- A handwritten note by William Cooper seeking permission to visit the Coranderrk mission station, 1934
- William Cooper appeals to the Victorian Trades Hall for support, 1939
- The Minister for the Interior and future Prime Minister, John (Jack) McEwen declines to forward the petition to the King, 1938 (Part 1)
- The Minister for the Interior and future Prime Minister, John (Jack) McEwen declines to forward the petition to the King, 1938 (Part 2)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Mia Farrow endorses campaign on Darfur advocacy
From The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, 19 November 2009, by SHERI SHEFA, Staff Reporter:
TORONTO — Actor and humanitarian Mia Farrow has endorsed another Canadian Jewish organization working to raise awareness about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Mia Farrow spoke about the importance of distributing literature such as Canadian Jewish Congress’ Darfur: A Jewish Response to galvanize citizens to advocate for the victims of the Darfur genocide.
...the CJC campaign on Darfur advocacy, ...is led by Ottawa-based lawyer Amichai Wise, as well as volunteers, including university students, professionals and religious leaders from across the country.
...“The response of the Jewish community in America, in England, here in Canada has been immediate and everybody stepped up, and it’s just amazing. Without Jewish advocacy in America, we wouldn’t have the Save Darfur Coalition, we wouldn’t have the STAND [Students Taking Action Now: Darfur] groups – we wouldn’t have anywhere near the focus that we have been able to shed on another genocide,” Farrow said.
“And, of course, it is because of the Jewish people, who tragically know better than anyone, when we say the word genocide… what it means. It is the Jewish community again and again who have stepped up,” she said.
Going even further with her praise of the Jewish community, she called herself a “Jewish wannabe,” and added that she “always wanted to be Jewish.”
...The book also includes graphic images from the region, including a photo taken by Farrow during one of her 11 trips to the region.
Farrow took her first trip to Darfur in 2004, about a year after a conflict over land between African farmers and Arabic nomads began. The conflict escalated into a violent war between African guerrilla groups and the Janjaweed, which led to the murder of hundreds of thousands and the displacement of about three million people in refugee camps, some of whom are dying from hunger and disease.
Farrow said that books such as Darfur: A Jewish Response are so important because “to reach the governments you have to get to the citizens.
...Farrow, who said her family motto is that with knowledge comes responsibility, said that the first step in becoming an advocate is to get informed. “[Ask yourself] what is being demanded of you, what is in your sphere of capabilities to give, to do, to join, to become involved, to lend your voice.”
She said that while she has gotten discouraged in the past by people’s apathy, she has a lot of hope when it comes to the younger generation of activists....
For more information or to join the Darfur Action Committee, e-mail CanadianJewishCongress@cjc.ca.
TORONTO — Actor and humanitarian Mia Farrow has endorsed another Canadian Jewish organization working to raise awareness about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Mia Farrow spoke about the importance of distributing literature such as Canadian Jewish Congress’ Darfur: A Jewish Response to galvanize citizens to advocate for the victims of the Darfur genocide.
...the CJC campaign on Darfur advocacy, ...is led by Ottawa-based lawyer Amichai Wise, as well as volunteers, including university students, professionals and religious leaders from across the country.
...“The response of the Jewish community in America, in England, here in Canada has been immediate and everybody stepped up, and it’s just amazing. Without Jewish advocacy in America, we wouldn’t have the Save Darfur Coalition, we wouldn’t have the STAND [Students Taking Action Now: Darfur] groups – we wouldn’t have anywhere near the focus that we have been able to shed on another genocide,” Farrow said.
“And, of course, it is because of the Jewish people, who tragically know better than anyone, when we say the word genocide… what it means. It is the Jewish community again and again who have stepped up,” she said.
Going even further with her praise of the Jewish community, she called herself a “Jewish wannabe,” and added that she “always wanted to be Jewish.”
...The book also includes graphic images from the region, including a photo taken by Farrow during one of her 11 trips to the region.
Farrow took her first trip to Darfur in 2004, about a year after a conflict over land between African farmers and Arabic nomads began. The conflict escalated into a violent war between African guerrilla groups and the Janjaweed, which led to the murder of hundreds of thousands and the displacement of about three million people in refugee camps, some of whom are dying from hunger and disease.
Farrow said that books such as Darfur: A Jewish Response are so important because “to reach the governments you have to get to the citizens.
...Farrow, who said her family motto is that with knowledge comes responsibility, said that the first step in becoming an advocate is to get informed. “[Ask yourself] what is being demanded of you, what is in your sphere of capabilities to give, to do, to join, to become involved, to lend your voice.”
She said that while she has gotten discouraged in the past by people’s apathy, she has a lot of hope when it comes to the younger generation of activists....
For more information or to join the Darfur Action Committee, e-mail CanadianJewishCongress@cjc.ca.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Sanhedrin Finds Chinese Regime Liable for Falun Gong Deaths
From "A True Chinese Rennaissance" (Blog):
NEW YORK—In an unprecedented decision, a special Israeli rabbinical council ruled last week that the Chinese regime has been responsible for the killing of Falun Gong practitioners.
"On the basis of the accumulation of the various testimonies and indirect evidence, the International Court of the Nascent Sanhedrin, came to the conclusion that there were unnumbered cases of killing of innocent Falun Gong practitioners [by agents of the Chinese government], perhaps also out of consideration of material benefits derived from organ harvesting," said the court in a decision dated July 15, 2008.
"If the human rights issues are not addressed before the Olympic Games begin, we consider participation in them by athletes and by spectators and political leaders to be an indirect danger to world peace," it further stated.
The ruling was issued in response to a request filed by Israeli Falun Gong practitioners in July 2007. The Sanhedrin, an ancient council of sages re-established by several rabbis in Israel in 2004 as a source of Jewish jurisprudence, comprises 71 scholars of Jewish law and is headed by Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz. Its International Court, a subcommittee addressing international issues, put out the present opinion as a form of religious guidance and on the basis of Jewish law.
The court issued the decision after examining testimony and evidence brought before it by human rights experts, including the U.S.-based Human Rights Law Foundation (HRLF) and David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific and coauthor of an independent investigation entitled "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China." Also appearing before the council were several Chinese victims of rights abuses, including the widow of a man tortured to death in Chinese custody after being abducted for practicing Falun Gong.
"As a Jewish child growing up in the wake of the Holocaust, I made a vow to myself at the very young age of 13, that if it ever happened again, I would do all I could to put a stop to it," says attorney Terri Marsh. "Now as a human rights lawyer and legal participant in this case, I thank the Sanhedrin for finding the courage and wisdom to expose and condemn the crimes perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party against members of the Falun Gong faith in China."
Political Pressure and Olympic Implications
According to the rabbinical body, the Chinese government refused to appear before it, but did submit written and digital materials to refute the complaints. It also reportedly applied political pressure on the court to drop the case, but as a body independent of the Israeli government, the council did not heed the request.
To ensure the fairness of the proceedings without the Chinese government’s formal participation, the court followed a tradition of Jewish jurisprudence and acted “not only as an objective Judge but at the same time as attorney for the side which is absent,” thereby subjecting witnesses to cross-examination.
Having found the Chinese government responsible for the deaths of Falun Gong adherents, the court demanded that the Chinese government "assure the minimum of liberties as indicated by the seven Noahide commandments," that it implement a Chinese law passed in May 2007 meant to end organ harvesting without consent, and that it allow a coalition of international organizations to enter China and freely investigate the Chinese government's compliance with the above mentioned commandments, considered to be the "Human Rights Charter according to the Torah."
Lastly, it stated that "if the human rights issues are not settled before the opening of the Olympics, participation in these Games may be understood to indicate indifference to human rights violations in China, and support for suppression," rendering such participation "an indirect danger to world peace."
Follow this link to the full translation from Hebrew of the Sanhedrin's decision.
NEW YORK—In an unprecedented decision, a special Israeli rabbinical council ruled last week that the Chinese regime has been responsible for the killing of Falun Gong practitioners.
"On the basis of the accumulation of the various testimonies and indirect evidence, the International Court of the Nascent Sanhedrin, came to the conclusion that there were unnumbered cases of killing of innocent Falun Gong practitioners [by agents of the Chinese government], perhaps also out of consideration of material benefits derived from organ harvesting," said the court in a decision dated July 15, 2008.
"If the human rights issues are not addressed before the Olympic Games begin, we consider participation in them by athletes and by spectators and political leaders to be an indirect danger to world peace," it further stated.
The ruling was issued in response to a request filed by Israeli Falun Gong practitioners in July 2007. The Sanhedrin, an ancient council of sages re-established by several rabbis in Israel in 2004 as a source of Jewish jurisprudence, comprises 71 scholars of Jewish law and is headed by Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz. Its International Court, a subcommittee addressing international issues, put out the present opinion as a form of religious guidance and on the basis of Jewish law.
The court issued the decision after examining testimony and evidence brought before it by human rights experts, including the U.S.-based Human Rights Law Foundation (HRLF) and David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific and coauthor of an independent investigation entitled "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China." Also appearing before the council were several Chinese victims of rights abuses, including the widow of a man tortured to death in Chinese custody after being abducted for practicing Falun Gong.
"As a Jewish child growing up in the wake of the Holocaust, I made a vow to myself at the very young age of 13, that if it ever happened again, I would do all I could to put a stop to it," says attorney Terri Marsh. "Now as a human rights lawyer and legal participant in this case, I thank the Sanhedrin for finding the courage and wisdom to expose and condemn the crimes perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party against members of the Falun Gong faith in China."
Political Pressure and Olympic Implications
According to the rabbinical body, the Chinese government refused to appear before it, but did submit written and digital materials to refute the complaints. It also reportedly applied political pressure on the court to drop the case, but as a body independent of the Israeli government, the council did not heed the request.
To ensure the fairness of the proceedings without the Chinese government’s formal participation, the court followed a tradition of Jewish jurisprudence and acted “not only as an objective Judge but at the same time as attorney for the side which is absent,” thereby subjecting witnesses to cross-examination.
Having found the Chinese government responsible for the deaths of Falun Gong adherents, the court demanded that the Chinese government "assure the minimum of liberties as indicated by the seven Noahide commandments," that it implement a Chinese law passed in May 2007 meant to end organ harvesting without consent, and that it allow a coalition of international organizations to enter China and freely investigate the Chinese government's compliance with the above mentioned commandments, considered to be the "Human Rights Charter according to the Torah."
Lastly, it stated that "if the human rights issues are not settled before the opening of the Olympics, participation in these Games may be understood to indicate indifference to human rights violations in China, and support for suppression," rendering such participation "an indirect danger to world peace."
Follow this link to the full translation from Hebrew of the Sanhedrin's decision.
Major discovery from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution
From MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) News, by Anne Trafton, News Office, July 31, 2008:
Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system
In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."
Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.
The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas. The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity -- whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source -- runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced.
Combined with another catalyst, such as platinum, that can produce hydrogen gas from water, the system can duplicate the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis.
The new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH water, and it's easy to set up, Nocera said. "That's why I know this is going to work. It's so easy to implement," he said.
'Giant leap' for clean energy
Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.
James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a "giant leap" toward generating clean, carbon-free energy on a massive scale. "This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind," said Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London. "The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem."
'Just the beginning'
Currently available electrolyzers, which split water with electricity and are often used industrially, are not suited for artificial photosynthesis because they are very expensive and require a highly basic (non-benign) environment that has little to do with the conditions under which photosynthesis operates. More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new scientific discovery into existing photovoltaic systems, but Nocera said he is confident that such systems will become a reality. "This is just the beginning," said Nocera, principal investigator for the Solar Revolution Project funded by the Chesonis Family Foundation and co-Director of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center. "The scientific community is really going to run with this."
Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. Electricity-by-wire from a central source could be a thing of the past.
The project is part of the MIT Energy Initiative, a program designed to help transform the global energy system to meet the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future by improving today's energy systems. .... This project was funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Chesonis Family Foundation, which gave MIT $10 million this spring to launch the Solar Revolution Project, with a goal to make the large scale deployment of solar energy within 10 years.
Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system
In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."
Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.
The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas. The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity -- whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source -- runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced.
Combined with another catalyst, such as platinum, that can produce hydrogen gas from water, the system can duplicate the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis.
The new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH water, and it's easy to set up, Nocera said. "That's why I know this is going to work. It's so easy to implement," he said.
'Giant leap' for clean energy
Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.
James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a "giant leap" toward generating clean, carbon-free energy on a massive scale. "This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind," said Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London. "The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem."
'Just the beginning'
Currently available electrolyzers, which split water with electricity and are often used industrially, are not suited for artificial photosynthesis because they are very expensive and require a highly basic (non-benign) environment that has little to do with the conditions under which photosynthesis operates. More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new scientific discovery into existing photovoltaic systems, but Nocera said he is confident that such systems will become a reality. "This is just the beginning," said Nocera, principal investigator for the Solar Revolution Project funded by the Chesonis Family Foundation and co-Director of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center. "The scientific community is really going to run with this."
Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. Electricity-by-wire from a central source could be a thing of the past.
The project is part of the MIT Energy Initiative, a program designed to help transform the global energy system to meet the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future by improving today's energy systems. .... This project was funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Chesonis Family Foundation, which gave MIT $10 million this spring to launch the Solar Revolution Project, with a goal to make the large scale deployment of solar energy within 10 years.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
China Olympics
The following two messages, are a clear call to the Jewish world to fulfil the mitzvah of Tikkun Olam.
...firstly, from an address by Jennifer Zeng, of Australia, a refugee from China and survivor of its forced labour camps, PUBLIC LIBRARY, Tel Aviv, February 18, 2008:
...Some 60 years ago, shocked by what had happened to millions of Jews in the Nazi concentration camps, the world vowed "Never Again". Unfortunately, similar anti-humanity crimes have been happening again now for eight years in China....which is killing people en masse for their vital organs.
For any sensible human being, this sounds unbelievable. But I know it is true as I myself am a survivor. In order to get out of a party-state concentration camp and to tell the world what was happening there, I have experienced something worse than death.
I was sent to the Female Forced Labour Camp in Beijing in 2001 for practising Falun Gong. ...We were shocked with electric batons, beaten up, sexually abused, forced to work under appalling conditions for 16 or even 20 hours a day. We were put under severe and endless mental pressure to betray our own beliefs in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance".
I saw people driven into insanity ...deprived ...of ... sanity, a free will, dignity ...human beings were reduced to being living corpses.
Having witnessing all sorts of unimaginable crimes for months, I suddenly developed a very strong impulse to write a book to expose it all. When I made the decision to give a statement pretending to give up my beliefs-so that I could gain freedom to write a book- I didn't know that the cost would be so dear. I was forced to write "thought reports" and essays ...slandering my cherished beliefs. I was forced to read out a slanderous article with a calm face in front of cameras and hundreds of inmates in the camp; I was even forced to help the police to torture the newcomers in order to make them "reform". I 'm too ashamed to go into more details. There were many times when I wondered why I had not gone mad or died.
Yet, among all these inhuman crimes, would you believe that camp officials pretended to care about our health so much that they gave us very thorough physical periodic check-ups, including X-rays and blood tests? While in the labour camp, I never had the heart or ability to think why they did this, until with a chilling realization I learnt that blood tests and a data base of blood and tissue types was necessary to set up a large live organ bank.
For those who don't know what the day-to-day life is like behind the walls of 21st century Nazi-like camps, I invite you to read my book: "Witnessing History-one woman's fight for freedom and Falun Gong". It is a first-hand account of my life, written with a lot of tears. It is about what's happening in a place some 20 kilometres from the Tiananmen Square, or thirty from the main Olympics facility in Beijing. Even before you finish it, you will draw your own conclusion as to whether humankind and the Olympics movement will benefit from an Olympiad hosted by a Hitler-type regime.
...and this is supported by the following from "HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA AND THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES", a Keynote Address by Hon. David Kilgour, J.D. International Forum, Grand Hyatt Hotel Taipei, Taiwan February 21, 2008:
...The government of China hopes that spending vast amounts of money on Games facilities--and forcibly removing thousands from their homes with inadequate compensation--will improve its reputation despite its well-documented systematic violations of human dignity. The opposite seems more likely since the Games are now being used by the regime as a pretext for a crackdown on human rights advocates and other patriotic citizens of China. One Internet survey I saw a few months ago in Canada indicated that more than nine in ten of respondents favoured changing our trade laws with China presumably because of their human rights abuses; surveys in a number of other countries evidently also show mounting concern about the Hu-Wen government....
...In 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were more than twice as many arrests in China as the previous year for the offence of 'endangering state security', which is used by totalitarian governments everywhere to silence journalists, civil-rights lawyers and advocates of religious freedom. The number jumped to 604 arrests in 2006 from 296 in 2005. Among those arrested were the crusading defence lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year and who has been repeatedly detained and beaten; the human-rights, AIDS and environmental advocate Hu Jia; the blind self-taught lawyer Chen Guangcheng, now serving a four-year prison term; and the civil-rights lawyer Guo Feixiong, now serving a five-year term.
Stubborn Facts
...The world should draw conclusions about China from facts alone. For example, Carsten A.Holz, an academic economist who specializes in China, ...noted for example, that China experts often take at face value the country's business laws without mentioning the dominant role of the Communist party. He adds: "At the national level, the leadership of the 50 largest state-owned enterprises-enterprises that invest around the world-is directly appointed by the Politburo." .... Holz notes that among the 3,220 persons with a personal worth of $13 million or more in the country 2912 are children of high-level cadres.....
....The Party seeks to equate itself with China as a country, to convince naive persons within and outside the country that it is China, and that without the Party there would be no China.....our criticisms are directed at the unelected government in Beijing and never at the exploited and hard-working people of the country.....
Organ Pillaging - "Bloody Harvest Games"
David Matas, and I concluded to our horror following our independent investigation last year that since the end of 2000 the party-state of China and its agencies have killed thousands of Falun Gong practitioners, mostly without any form of prior trial, and then sold their vital organs for large sums of money, often to 'organ tourists' from wealthy countries (Our report is available in nineteen languages, including Mandarin, at www.organharvestinvestigation.net).
Neither of us are Falun Gong practitioners, but my experience with Falun Gong in the numerous national capitals Matas and I have now visited, seeking to bring these crimes against humanity to a halt by helping to raise public awareness, has been overwhelmingly positive. Falun Gong practitioners really do attempt to live their core principles of "truth, compassion and tolerance", which are shared by virtually all of the world's spiritual communities.
Matas and I have spoken in several countries to a small number of Falun Gong practitioners sent to labour camps since 1999, who managed later to leave both the camps and China itself. They told us of working in appalling conditions for up to sixteen hours daily with no pay and little food and many persons sleeping in the same room, making export products, ranging from garments to chopsticks to Christmas decorations for multinational companies. .... The labour camps, operating across China since the 1950s, are remarkably similar to one's in Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany. They operate outside the legal system and allow the Party to send anyone to them for up to four years with no hearing and no appeal by simply getting their police to sign an order.
Rwandan Echoes
The propaganda phase of the persecution, begun in mid-1999 against a then estimated 70-100 million Falun Gong practitioners across China, demonized, vilified and dehumanized them in Party-controlled media. Many Chinese were thus persuaded to think of the community tragically as even somehow less than human. The phenomenon recalls a similar media campaign unleashed by another party-state in Rwanda against its minority Tutsi community prior to the genocide there between April and June, 1994.
...Why is it that in only one of the eighty or so countries where Falun Gong practitioners now live are they persecuted mercilessly? Their growing popularity among the Chinese people generally during the 1990s was clearly one major reason, but another no doubt was that the values of those in power in Beijing were and are at the opposite end of the ethical spectrum.
The Chinese Medical Association has now agreed with the World Medical Association quite recently that 'organ tourists' will obtain no more transplants in China. Whether this is anything more than public relations cant intended to benefit the Beijing Olympiad remains to be seen. Another concern is that organs seized from unwilling "donors" across China, including Falun Gong practitioners, will now go to wealthy Chinese patients instead, with the grotesque commerce thus continuing in the same volume.
None of these deaths would be occurring if the Chinese people as a whole enjoyed the rule of law and their government believed in the intrinsic worth and dignity of each one of them. Human lives generally across China appear to have no more value to the party-state there than does the natural environment, work safety, health care and social programs for all Chinese, or Buddhist monks in Tibet and Burma. In my judgement, it is the toxic combination of totalitarian governance and 'Anything is permitted' capitalism that allows this new form of evil in the world to persist.
"Genocide Olympics"
A number of the world's most brutal dictatorships, including North Korea, Burma and Zimbabwe, have fallen under Beijing's sway during its scramble to acquire as much as possible of the earth's natural resources. ...I'd ask you to consider how any regime which is doing such terrible things in Burma, Tibet, East Turkestan, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the world could be allowed to host an Olympiad?....
Growing Shadows over Olympic Games
... the Summer Games this year face increasing opposition because the host national government remains one of the world's most gross and systematic violators of human dignity.
China was awarded the Games by the IOC only after it pledged to respect the Olympic Charter and to improve its human rights record. Many independent organizations have since observed that an already appalling record is instead worsening as the Beijing Games approach.
Why, for example, do Falun Gong practitioners face continuing merciless persecution after eight long years? What principle of the modern Olympic Games, especially after the experience in Hitler's Berlin at the 1936 Olympics, allows a host government to bar Falun Gong or any spiritual community's members from competing in, or even watching, events in Beijing? What about Tibetans, Buddhists, Uighurs, human rights advocates, independent journalists, other spiritual communities and democracy activists?
The government of China's outrageous treatment of human beings deemed 'enemies of the Party' both at home and abroad in the run up to the Games has led to an understandable call for a boycott. Both the Olympic Games and human rights movements worldwide share a common goal: the unity, dignity and equality among the entire human family. When this precept is violated systematically by the host government of a particular Olympiad, as is the case this year, the modern Olympic movement as a whole comes into question....The IOC should demand from the organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games that they conform to the Charter and refrain from discrimination against any group or individual during their Games....
...firstly, from an address by Jennifer Zeng, of Australia, a refugee from China and survivor of its forced labour camps, PUBLIC LIBRARY, Tel Aviv, February 18, 2008:
...Some 60 years ago, shocked by what had happened to millions of Jews in the Nazi concentration camps, the world vowed "Never Again". Unfortunately, similar anti-humanity crimes have been happening again now for eight years in China....which is killing people en masse for their vital organs.
For any sensible human being, this sounds unbelievable. But I know it is true as I myself am a survivor. In order to get out of a party-state concentration camp and to tell the world what was happening there, I have experienced something worse than death.
I was sent to the Female Forced Labour Camp in Beijing in 2001 for practising Falun Gong. ...We were shocked with electric batons, beaten up, sexually abused, forced to work under appalling conditions for 16 or even 20 hours a day. We were put under severe and endless mental pressure to betray our own beliefs in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance".
I saw people driven into insanity ...deprived ...of ... sanity, a free will, dignity ...human beings were reduced to being living corpses.
Having witnessing all sorts of unimaginable crimes for months, I suddenly developed a very strong impulse to write a book to expose it all. When I made the decision to give a statement pretending to give up my beliefs-so that I could gain freedom to write a book- I didn't know that the cost would be so dear. I was forced to write "thought reports" and essays ...slandering my cherished beliefs. I was forced to read out a slanderous article with a calm face in front of cameras and hundreds of inmates in the camp; I was even forced to help the police to torture the newcomers in order to make them "reform". I 'm too ashamed to go into more details. There were many times when I wondered why I had not gone mad or died.
Yet, among all these inhuman crimes, would you believe that camp officials pretended to care about our health so much that they gave us very thorough physical periodic check-ups, including X-rays and blood tests? While in the labour camp, I never had the heart or ability to think why they did this, until with a chilling realization I learnt that blood tests and a data base of blood and tissue types was necessary to set up a large live organ bank.
For those who don't know what the day-to-day life is like behind the walls of 21st century Nazi-like camps, I invite you to read my book: "Witnessing History-one woman's fight for freedom and Falun Gong". It is a first-hand account of my life, written with a lot of tears. It is about what's happening in a place some 20 kilometres from the Tiananmen Square, or thirty from the main Olympics facility in Beijing. Even before you finish it, you will draw your own conclusion as to whether humankind and the Olympics movement will benefit from an Olympiad hosted by a Hitler-type regime.
...and this is supported by the following from "HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA AND THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES", a Keynote Address by Hon. David Kilgour, J.D. International Forum, Grand Hyatt Hotel Taipei, Taiwan February 21, 2008:
...The government of China hopes that spending vast amounts of money on Games facilities--and forcibly removing thousands from their homes with inadequate compensation--will improve its reputation despite its well-documented systematic violations of human dignity. The opposite seems more likely since the Games are now being used by the regime as a pretext for a crackdown on human rights advocates and other patriotic citizens of China. One Internet survey I saw a few months ago in Canada indicated that more than nine in ten of respondents favoured changing our trade laws with China presumably because of their human rights abuses; surveys in a number of other countries evidently also show mounting concern about the Hu-Wen government....
...In 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were more than twice as many arrests in China as the previous year for the offence of 'endangering state security', which is used by totalitarian governments everywhere to silence journalists, civil-rights lawyers and advocates of religious freedom. The number jumped to 604 arrests in 2006 from 296 in 2005. Among those arrested were the crusading defence lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year and who has been repeatedly detained and beaten; the human-rights, AIDS and environmental advocate Hu Jia; the blind self-taught lawyer Chen Guangcheng, now serving a four-year prison term; and the civil-rights lawyer Guo Feixiong, now serving a five-year term.
Stubborn Facts
...The world should draw conclusions about China from facts alone. For example, Carsten A.Holz, an academic economist who specializes in China, ...noted for example, that China experts often take at face value the country's business laws without mentioning the dominant role of the Communist party. He adds: "At the national level, the leadership of the 50 largest state-owned enterprises-enterprises that invest around the world-is directly appointed by the Politburo." .... Holz notes that among the 3,220 persons with a personal worth of $13 million or more in the country 2912 are children of high-level cadres.....
....The Party seeks to equate itself with China as a country, to convince naive persons within and outside the country that it is China, and that without the Party there would be no China.....our criticisms are directed at the unelected government in Beijing and never at the exploited and hard-working people of the country.....
Organ Pillaging - "Bloody Harvest Games"
David Matas, and I concluded to our horror following our independent investigation last year that since the end of 2000 the party-state of China and its agencies have killed thousands of Falun Gong practitioners, mostly without any form of prior trial, and then sold their vital organs for large sums of money, often to 'organ tourists' from wealthy countries (Our report is available in nineteen languages, including Mandarin, at www.organharvestinvestigation.net).
Neither of us are Falun Gong practitioners, but my experience with Falun Gong in the numerous national capitals Matas and I have now visited, seeking to bring these crimes against humanity to a halt by helping to raise public awareness, has been overwhelmingly positive. Falun Gong practitioners really do attempt to live their core principles of "truth, compassion and tolerance", which are shared by virtually all of the world's spiritual communities.
Matas and I have spoken in several countries to a small number of Falun Gong practitioners sent to labour camps since 1999, who managed later to leave both the camps and China itself. They told us of working in appalling conditions for up to sixteen hours daily with no pay and little food and many persons sleeping in the same room, making export products, ranging from garments to chopsticks to Christmas decorations for multinational companies. .... The labour camps, operating across China since the 1950s, are remarkably similar to one's in Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany. They operate outside the legal system and allow the Party to send anyone to them for up to four years with no hearing and no appeal by simply getting their police to sign an order.
Rwandan Echoes
The propaganda phase of the persecution, begun in mid-1999 against a then estimated 70-100 million Falun Gong practitioners across China, demonized, vilified and dehumanized them in Party-controlled media. Many Chinese were thus persuaded to think of the community tragically as even somehow less than human. The phenomenon recalls a similar media campaign unleashed by another party-state in Rwanda against its minority Tutsi community prior to the genocide there between April and June, 1994.
...Why is it that in only one of the eighty or so countries where Falun Gong practitioners now live are they persecuted mercilessly? Their growing popularity among the Chinese people generally during the 1990s was clearly one major reason, but another no doubt was that the values of those in power in Beijing were and are at the opposite end of the ethical spectrum.
The Chinese Medical Association has now agreed with the World Medical Association quite recently that 'organ tourists' will obtain no more transplants in China. Whether this is anything more than public relations cant intended to benefit the Beijing Olympiad remains to be seen. Another concern is that organs seized from unwilling "donors" across China, including Falun Gong practitioners, will now go to wealthy Chinese patients instead, with the grotesque commerce thus continuing in the same volume.
None of these deaths would be occurring if the Chinese people as a whole enjoyed the rule of law and their government believed in the intrinsic worth and dignity of each one of them. Human lives generally across China appear to have no more value to the party-state there than does the natural environment, work safety, health care and social programs for all Chinese, or Buddhist monks in Tibet and Burma. In my judgement, it is the toxic combination of totalitarian governance and 'Anything is permitted' capitalism that allows this new form of evil in the world to persist.
"Genocide Olympics"
A number of the world's most brutal dictatorships, including North Korea, Burma and Zimbabwe, have fallen under Beijing's sway during its scramble to acquire as much as possible of the earth's natural resources. ...I'd ask you to consider how any regime which is doing such terrible things in Burma, Tibet, East Turkestan, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the world could be allowed to host an Olympiad?....
Growing Shadows over Olympic Games
... the Summer Games this year face increasing opposition because the host national government remains one of the world's most gross and systematic violators of human dignity.
China was awarded the Games by the IOC only after it pledged to respect the Olympic Charter and to improve its human rights record. Many independent organizations have since observed that an already appalling record is instead worsening as the Beijing Games approach.
Why, for example, do Falun Gong practitioners face continuing merciless persecution after eight long years? What principle of the modern Olympic Games, especially after the experience in Hitler's Berlin at the 1936 Olympics, allows a host government to bar Falun Gong or any spiritual community's members from competing in, or even watching, events in Beijing? What about Tibetans, Buddhists, Uighurs, human rights advocates, independent journalists, other spiritual communities and democracy activists?
The government of China's outrageous treatment of human beings deemed 'enemies of the Party' both at home and abroad in the run up to the Games has led to an understandable call for a boycott. Both the Olympic Games and human rights movements worldwide share a common goal: the unity, dignity and equality among the entire human family. When this precept is violated systematically by the host government of a particular Olympiad, as is the case this year, the modern Olympic movement as a whole comes into question....The IOC should demand from the organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games that they conform to the Charter and refrain from discrimination against any group or individual during their Games....
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