India: After the Riots, Gujarat Women Step Out of the Home, into Jobs and Government

How Muslim women adapted after riots

Suvojit Bagchi (BBC News)

After 59 Hindu pilgrims were killed when their train was allegedly attacked by a Muslim mob, Gujarat witnessed some of the worst communal riots since India’s independence.

At least a 1,000 people – mostly Muslims were killed in the riots. The Hindu-dominated state authorities were accused of being complicit in attacks on Muslims.

In the aftermath of the riots, most Muslim men either went into hiding or were arrested and the womenfolk were left to fend for themselves.

“The riots left us with no option but to step out of the house,” Ms Sheikh says… [Twenty three-year-old Firoza Sheikh has recently been elected to the local municipality in Saonli a small town in the Godhra district of Gujarat.]

Since the riots in Gujarat, when many men were arrested or afraid to go out in public, more women have been working outside the home. They’ve been running their own businesses, going to school and dealing with government bureaucracy. Some have come to like the higher level of independence they’ve been able to achieve.

Of course, not everyone is pleased with these developments:

many Muslim women in Godhra say they are being held back by none other than their husbands.

“My husband does not want me to go out of the house and interact with other men, this is irritating,” says Shamima Sheikh of Falanagar Colony.

Her husband has recently relented “but still creates problems occasionally…”

Italy: Abandoned Babies and the Origin of “Esposito”

Updating an Old Way to Leave the Baby on the Doorstep

Elisabetta Povoledo (NY Times)

In the Middle Ages, new mothers in Rome could abandon their unwanted babies in a “foundling wheel” — a revolving wooden barrel lodged in a wall, often in a convent, that allowed women to deposit their offspring without being seen…

As in bygone days, it is possible for a woman to leave a baby without being seen, but the moment the child is abandoned an alarm goes off in the hospital’s emergency room, ensuring that the baby receives immediate first aid from a team of specialists…

…In the Middle Ages, new mothers in Rome could abandon their unwanted babies in a “foundling wheel” — a revolving wooden barrel lodged in a wall, often in a convent, that allowed women to deposit their offspring without being seen…

…The problem of unwanted newborns has been documented in Italy since Roman times, when babies abandoned next to a column in a forum were either taken home by a third party to serve as slaves or left to die.

A minority of the children would have the good fortune to be adopted.

And now we come to the origins of “Esposito” and some other common names:

Foundling wheels were institutionalized by a papal bull issued in the 12th century by Pope Innocent III, who was shocked by the number of dead babies found in the Tiber. By 1204, there was a wheel in operation at the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome, next to the Vatican. A 14th-century home for abandoned children in Naples, annexed to a church, is now a museum about foundlings. Many common family names in Italy can be traced to a foundling past: Esposito (because children were sometimes “exposed” on the steps of a convent), Proietti (from the Latin proicio, to throw away) or Innocenti (as in innocent of their father’s sin)…

A few months ago, Nzingha published a very interesting post about the problem of abandoned babies in Saudia Arabia, and how the government deals with that problem. The Saudi government is torn between punishing women for illicit sex if they turn up at the hospital pregnant and single, and giving these infants a healthy start in life by being delivered in a hospital. Since women face a lashing or possibly a stoning if they try to check into a hospital to give birth, needless to say there aren’t many takers.

The Saudi formula is harsh; yet, in the US, babies are still being abandoned in garbage cans or drowned in toilets, even in states where it is legal to leave an unwanted baby at any hospital or fire station.

There’s no easy answer to this.

The Self-Esteem Movement and Narcissism

Study: College students more narcissistic

David Crary (Associated Press)

Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.

“We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re special’ and having children repeat that back,” said the study’s lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. “Kids are self-centered enough already…”

…Narcissism can have benefits, said study co-author W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, suggesting it could be useful in meeting new people “or auditioning on ‘American Idol.’”

“Unfortunately, narcissism can also have very negative consequences for society, including the breakdown of close relationships with others,” he said.

The study asserts that narcissists “are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors…”

The self-effacing behavior encouraged in many Asian cultures and among Muslims in general, is a sharp contrast to the “I am special” attitude instilled in so many American children.

… Twenge, the author of “Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before,” said narcissists tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favor self-promotion over helping others.

The researchers traced the phenomenon back to what they called the “self-esteem movement” that emerged in the 1980s, asserting that the effort to build self-confidence had gone too far.

As an example, Twenge cited a song commonly sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques” in preschool: “I am special, I am special. Look at me…”

Whoa. Kids actually sing that????

Kari Dalane, a University of Vermont sophomore, says most of her contemporaries are politically active and not overly self-centered…

…”It would be more depressing if people answered, ‘No, I’m not special…”

Perhaps Dalane and others should remember that thinking you are special doesn’t really mean you are. According to a study done a few years ago, American students have tested very high on self-confidence in math; actual math scores were pitifully low compared to Korea and Japan.

Violent criminals also tend to have higher self-esteem than the population average. They think they’re special, and act accordingly.

Teaching children they are “special” doesn’t compensate for any real problems the child might be having due to family problems, environment or other issues. Indeed, instilling a feeling of “specialness” can do more harm than good, at least according to these studies.

Negev: Bedouin Ousted From Their Homes

Once more, Bedouin families lose their homes in favor of Israeli expansion.

Negev desert nomads on the move again to make way for Israel’s barrier

Rory McCarthy (The Guardian)

The bulldozers came for Hamid Salim Hassan’s house just after dawn. Before the demolition began, the Bedouin family scrambled to gather what they could: a fridge, a pile of carpets, some plastic chairs, a canister of cooking gas and a metal bed frame.

Now, with their house a wreck of smashed concrete and broken plastic pipes, Mr Hassan and his family are living in a canvas tent on a neighbour’s land. Their possessions are piled outside, along with boxes of supplies, including washing-up liquid, toothpaste, corned beef, wheat flour and tomato paste, provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

His tent is small but it affords Mr Hassan a compelling view of the future. Stretched out before him are the hilltops of the West Bank where he and his family, all Bedouin shepherds who fled Israel in 1948, used to live and graze their sheep. Standing there now is Ma’ale Adumim, one of the largest Jewish settlements which is illegal under international law…

Video: Effect of Jack Bauer Saving the World with Torture

From , our top secret deeply undercover correspondent:

Fox’s “24″ asked by Military to quit the torture [VIDEO]

Evan Derkacz (Alternet)

Soldiers mimicking TV torture…

“24″ has had the effect of legitimizing the use torture. Regular viewers become anesthetized to the torture they witness on a weekly basis. Young soldiers mimic what they’ve seen. Cadets confide that “sometimes you have to cross the line.” Very interesting video.

Iran: Gulf States Agree to Let Israel Use Airspace Enroute to Strike Iran

From our top secret undercover correspondent, who is stunned and wondering “Can this possibly be true???”:

Report: Gulf states give Israel ok to use airspace for strikes against Iran

(israelinsider)

…on Sunday the Kuwaiti daily al-Siyassah reported that the Gulf states of Oman and the UAE would allow Israel to use their airspace should the Jewish state decide to launch preemptive strikes against Iran. The report quoted European and Arab diplomats…

Iran: Unintended Consequences Predicted in 2005…

(predicted by Juan Cole, not by anyone actually in charge of US foreign policy.)

Courtesy of , our top secret deeply undercover correspondent:

Is Iran Being Set Up?

Gary Leupp (CounterPunch, published in 2005)

A recent article by Juan Cole depicts Iran as the real victor in the Iraq War. This is because Iran, which Washington officially designates “evil,” has been able to establish warm relations with the government ushered into power by U.S. occupation forces in neighboring Iraq.

In his state visit to Iran Prime Minister al-Jaafari was offered electricity, wheat, pipeline projects, use of Iranian ports to transship goods to Iraq. Jaafari paid a pilgrimage to the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, one of the most vilified characters in the history of U.S. foreign relations. He blamed the Iran-Iraq War (in which the U.S. backed Baghdad) on Saddam Hussein and accepted Iraqi culpability. He promised that Iraq would not allow any attack on Iran from its soil.

Reports about the recent flurry of Iran-Iraq diplomacy must shock the neocons. Things are not going at all according to plan…

Saudia Arabia: Cherishing Human Rights

Kingdom Holds Good Track Record of Human Rights

K.S. Ramkumar (Arab News)

“We cherish human rights and work toward preserving the dignity of mankind…”

If by cherishing human rights they mean persecution of religious minorities, different standards of justice for guest workers and Saudis, and treating women as second class citizens, then yes – the Kingdom holds an excellent track record.

Pakistan: New Fatwa Encouraging Polio Vaccinations

A recent fatwa in Pakistan is reassuring Muslims who had been reluctant to have their children vaccinated against polio due to fears that the vaccination was actually an American plot to sterilize the children.

Pakistani Fatwa Boosts Polio Vaccination

Aamir Latif (IslamOnline.net)

A religious decree (fatwa) by Pakistan’s powerful religious alliance is motivating residents of the country’s northern tribal areas to allow polio vaccination of their kids after initial reluctance.

“I got my sons vaccinated last week as I became satisfied after reading the fatwa,” Momin Khan, an inhabitant of Kohistan town which touches with southeastern Afghanistan, told IslamOnline.net.

Qazi Hussein Ahmed, the president of the Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and its General Secretary Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman issued a fatwa in January urging residents of the northern tribal areas to allow health workers to administer polio drops to their children.

The move was taken after a local imam had warned residents that the vaccination aimed at sterilizing Muslim children to stop the growing Muslim population in the world…

Iran: US Intervention Helping Sunni Extremists

US meddling in Iran is having unintended result of helping Sunni extremists. The only people who will find this surprising are those associated with the Bush administration.

New US covert operations helping Sunni Muslim radicals

(Agence France Presse)

The United States is stepping up covert operations in Iran in a new strategy that risks sparking an “open confrontation” and benefits Sunni radicals, a US magazine reported Sunday.

In The New Yorker magazine, Seymour Hersh reports that US military and special-operations teams have increased their activities inside Iran, entering from Iraq to gather intelligence and to pursue Iranians who operate inside Iraq…

Film: Objections to “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”

Film’s View of Islam Stirs Anger on Campuses

Karen W. Arenson (NY Times)

When “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” a documentary that shows Muslims urging attacks on the United States and Europe, was screened recently at the University of California, Los Angeles, it drew an audience of more than 300 — and also dozens of protesters…

Not only does the film deliver a very one-sided view of Muslims and Islam, but in order to gain admittance to view the film, audience members must submit their names to a pro-Israeli advocacy group:

When a Middle East discussion group organized a showing at New York University recently, it found that the distributors of “Obsession” were requiring those in attendance to register at IsraelActivism.com, and that digital pictures of the events be sent to Hasbara Fellowships, a group set up to counter anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses…

USA: Anne Frank to Be Honored Posthumously with American Citizenship?

A Push for Citizenship to Honor Anne Frank, but It’s No Easy Sell

Paul Vitello (NY Times)

A congressman from Long Island wants the United States government to grant honorary citizenship to Anne Frank, at least in part to atone for having denied her family entry in the years before her arrest and deportation to a Nazi concentration camp.

Christopher Bodkin, a Long Island town councilman, has promoted citizenship for Anne Frank for three years. The effort resumed after Mr. Frank’s papers were rediscovered, showing his futile efforts to obtain visas.

The House of Representatives is likely to take up the question this year, yet the proposal is not quite as easy and unobjectionable as it sounds. Only six people in history have been granted the honor, and some of Anne Frank’s relatives are not supporting it…

And, why should Anne Frank’s relatives be elated over her being granted “the honor” of posthumous citizenship? Perhaps if she had been granted refugee status and allowed to enter the United States during WWII, she might have applied for citizenship while she was alive.

This is as meaningless as Virginia apologizing for slavery. Thanks for the apology, but it doesn’t change a thing.

Morocco: Sounds of the Neighborhood

Jillian has written a very amusing post at The Morocco Report entitled Aissawa Style. It is a vivid description of waking up in the morning amid the sounds of her neighborhood in Morocco. I wasn’t expecting the ending of this story. Definitely check it out!

US: Government May Have Fabricated Evidence Against Holy Land Foundation

Evidence against Muslim charity appears fabricated

An official summary of an FBI-wiretapped conversation contains anti-Semitic slurs that do not appear in the actual transcript.

Greg Krikorian (LA Times)

Israel: Living with the Indignities of the Checkpoints

Apartheid Looks Like This
Another small indignity at an Israeli checkpoint

Jonathan Cook (AntiWar.com)

… As a result [of the checkpoints], moving goods and people from one place to the next in the West Bank has become a nightmare of logistics and costly delays. At the checkpoints, food spoils, patients die, and children are prevented from reaching their schools…