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Respect for Human Rights Deterioirates in Iran
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PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2007 9:41 am    Post subject: Mullahs Mafia Regime In Iran Pulls the Rug from Afghan Refug Reply with quote

This is another Human Rights Violation ...
Quote:

Mullahs Mafia Regime In Iran Pulls the Rug from Afghan Refugees

May 09, 2007
Asian Times Online
Haroun Mir

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IE10Df02.html

"Many of the Afghans who have been forced out of Iran are furious. The majority of them were picked out from their workplaces without being given the opportunity to take their family members or their belongings."...

Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the following years of internal fights between different armed groups, more than 5 million Afghans have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Afghan people have been thankful for the assistance that Pakistan and Iran have provided the refugees, despite the economic burdens it has created on them.

Now both countries are threatening to expel the refugees - Iran has already started - in a move that will create unprecedented economic and social crises for the Afghan government.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), close to a million Afghan refugees live in Iran and more than 2 million in Pakistan. In addition, there are a considerable number of illegal refugees in both countries.

While a small number of Afghan refugees have been integrated into their host societies, the majority want to return home, but the Afghan government lacks resources and the capacity to take care of their elementary needs, such as housing. For instance, many refugees who have returned in the past five years still live in temporary tents exposed to Afghanistan's harsh climatic conditions. They lack basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation.

Yet with the economic situation in Afghanistan being so poor and with scant employment opportunities, the flood of refugees to Pakistan and Iran, as well as other countries, continues.

The Afghan government, with the help of the UNHCR, has been negotiating with Iranian and Pakistani authorities on comprehensive mechanisms to repatriate its nationals in multiple phases because it does not have the capacity and resources to take in all of them at once.

The majority of returnees converge on big cities such as the capital Kabul. In the past six years, the population in Kabul has almost doubled from 2 million to nearly 4 million. In addition to returnees, a number of poor farmers moved to Kabul in the hopes of making a relatively better living out of large reconstruction projects that were promised but never fulfilled.

The unexpected decision by Iran to force a massive expulsion of Afghan refugees is a political decision in the context of its confrontation with the West. For instance, the United States has accused Iran of involvement in the trafficking of arms and ammunition to the insurgency in Afghanistan.

Iranian authorities have never used refugees as leverage against Afghanistan, even when they massed their troops at the Afghan border after the assassination of one of their diplomats by the Taliban in 1998. Now it seems they want to use the refugees as a political tool to remind the Afghan government and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces of Tehran's destabilizing capacity in Afghanistan simply by kicking out masses of refugees.

Every day thousands of Afghans, including women and children, are dropped off by the Iranian authorities on the Afghan side of the border. Here there are few facilities and Kabul does not have the resources to help them. In desperation, the Afghans can only look to the West for assistance.

Reporting that some 44,000 people have been returned to Afghanistan from Iran as illegal immigrants since April 21, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has called on the governments of the two countries "to make sure that humanitarian considerations are taken into account", MaximsNews reported.

The Iranian government has the legal right to expel any unwanted Afghans from its territory, but it also has the moral responsibility not to abuse them.

Many of the Afghans who have been forced out of Iran are furious. The majority of them were picked out from their workplaces without being given the opportunity to take their family members or their belongings.

Afghanistan's dire economic and social conditions make it vulnerable to malevolent policies of unfriendly governments. The only way for the Afghan authorities to cut off the influence of its neighboring countries in its internal affairs is to resolve the issues of refugees as soon as possible.

Haroun Mir is a policy analyst for SIG & Partners Afghanistan. He served for more than five years as an aide to the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, Afghanistan's former defense minister.
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 9:38 pm    Post subject: Human Rights Watch: Iran Should End Arrests for 'Immorality' Reply with quote

Human Rights Watch: Iran Should End Arrests for 'Immorality'
By VOA News
16 May 2007
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-05-16-voa42.cfm

An international rights group is urging Iran to halt what it calls a nationwide crackdown on what Iranian authorities view as deviant dress and behavior.

Human Rights Watch in a statement accused the Iranian government of arresting thousands of men and women in recent weeks for their allegedly immoral behavior. It says most have been released after signing commitments to observe official standards, but others have been referred to the judiciary for prosecution.

Human Rights Watch said the arbitrary arrests threaten basic rights to privacy.

Last year, Iranian police announced plans to begin a strict crackdown on so-called social corruption issues, including women violating Islamic dress codes.

In its statement, Human Rights Watch reports that police detained more than 80 people in a raid on a birthday party in the city of Esfahan last week. A witness told the group that police accused some attendees of the private gathering of wearing the clothes of the opposite sex.

The witness reported that, after leading the party guests outside, police stripped some of them to the waist and beat them.
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PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2007 9:12 pm    Post subject: Women's High Rank in Hakhamaneshi Era Reply with quote

Women's High Rank in Hakhamaneshi Era
http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=009090120070516202917

IRAN,SHIRAZ, May 16-- The study of more than 300 muddy slates showed that Iranian females had a special position in Hakhamaneshi period.

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization expert said that according to the existing documents, some male workers used to work under females' supervision.

Women and men had equal salaries and even in some matters like pregnancy, females were getting more.

The women were gifted with 12 gold coins after giving birth and writing on one of the slates indicating that a woman got double salary for delivering twins," the expert said.

Remarking women's high position in Iran's ancient society, Iranian official at Persepolis heritage, Mr. Mohammadi said that taking care of women's right in that period is considerable.

The Persepolis historical complex walls were decorated by men and "Respecting women's high personality, they didn't apply female's figures for decorating. The walls of Persepolis are mostly embellished by men, plants and animals".

"The only portrait of the females that exists on Persepolis external walls is a woman who has sat on a kingship cart, which shows the woman as the main axis of the life circle," he added.

According to Mohammadi, comparing Hakhamaneshi era with its contemporary civilizations like Egypt and Greece, we will see so many differences. In these civilizations' architecture women pictures were used as external decorations, while women in Hakhamaneshi culture has dignity and are graceful, so there was no instrumental use of women in this period.
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PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 2:48 pm    Post subject: Human Rights Reply with quote

Watch Most Recent Human rights situation in Iran By Islamist SSF For Blind Officials and Appeasers

Quote:
Human Rights Group:
http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/index.htm

http://www.artistsforhumanrights.org/test/board.htm
http://www.myspace.com/nazbon

Video Clip Nazanin Boniadi - Artists for Human Rights

"Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help in the greatest of all causes -- goodwill among men and peace on earth." -Albert Einstein, 1920

Banned UN Speech: Human Rights Nightmare (WWW.UNWATCH.ORG)

Azar Nafisi: Women, Culture, Human Rights: The Case of Iran

Sen. Hillary Clinton at Human Rights Campaign Board Meeting
Ghazal Omid ; IRAN is Living in Hell None Women Human Rights



Iran commits human rights violations
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:47 am    Post subject: Amnesty says stonings, execution of minors continue in Iran Reply with quote

Amnesty says stonings, execution of minors continue in Iran
Thu. 24 May 2007
Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11358

London, May 24 - Two people were stoned to death in Iran and sentences of flogging, amputation and eye-gouging continued to be passed, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

In Iran "the human rights situation deteriorated, with civil society facing increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms of expression and association", Amnesty International said in its 2007 annual report.

"Two people were reportedly stoned to death. Sentences of flogging, amputation and eye-gouging continued to be passed", the report said.

"At least 177 people were executed, at least four of whom were under 18 at the time of the alleged offence, including one who was under 18 at the time of execution. ... The true numbers of those executed or subjected to corporal punishment were probably considerably higher than those reported.

"Scores of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continued to serve prison sentences imposed following unfair trials in previous years. Thousands more arrests were made in 2006, mostly during or following demonstrations. Human rights defenders, including journalists, students and lawyers, were among those detained arbitrarily without access to family or legal representation.

"Torture, especially during periods of pre-trial detention, remained commonplace", the report added.
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 2:14 pm    Post subject: Iran's Latest Hostages Reply with quote

Wall Steet wrote:

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Iran's Latest Hostages
May 24, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117997229416612959.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

Haleh Esfandiari is no firebrand opponent of the regime in Tehran . As director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington , D.C. , the Iranian-born scholar is known as an advocate of U.S. engagement with the mullahs and supporter of the "reformists" associated with former President Mohammad Khatami. But those distinctions don't count for much with the people who now hold her hostage in Tehran 's infamous Evin prison.

Ms. Esfandiari has been a prisoner of the Ayatollahs for the past five months, since her U.S. and Iranian passports were stolen by knife-wielding assailants during one of her routine visits to Tehran to see her 93-year-old mother. Rather than issue her new travel documents, agents from the ministry of intelligence subjected her to four months of intensive questioning, culminating with demands that she "cooperate." She refused. She was remanded to Evin prison earlier this month. On Monday, she was charged with attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic, according to Iranian state news agencies.

Her peril should not be underestimated: In 2003, Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was murdered in Evin. The Iranian newspaper Kayhan claims Ms. Esfandiari is a former head of the " Iran section of AIPAC" (the U.S. Israel lobby), which is untrue, and that she has lived in Israel , which is also untrue, and that she is an agent of the Mossad, which is absurd.

Meanwhile, Iran has also detained Iranian-American consultant Kian Tajbakhsh, who was working for George Soros's Open Society Institute. "We are concerned for his safety and call for his immediate release," the institute said in a statement.

Both Mr. Soros and the Wilson Center are critics of the Bush Doctrine in the Middle East, and Wilson Center President Lee Hamilton has been prominently urging U.S. negotiations with Iran . Mr. Hamilton wrote Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in February requesting Ms. Esfandiari's release. He received no reply.
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PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 4:58 pm    Post subject: KHAMENEI HAS ORDERED THE KILLING OF IRANIAN YOUTH Reply with quote

Watch video clip of KHAMENEI HAS ORDERED THE KILLING OF IRANIAN YOUTH

THIS IS WHAT THE SO CALLED REFORMISTS GAVE AN 8 YEAR HIKE TO. THIS WAS KHATAMI'S LOYALTY. DO YOU TRUST THIS REGIME?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sZmkdtPO038
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:05 pm    Post subject: Iran: Further Information on Prisoners of Conscience/Torture Reply with quote

Amnesty International wrote:

Iran: Further Information on Prisoners of Conscience/Torture

June 07, 2007
Amnesty International
Urgent Action

http://web.amnesty.org/library/print/ENGMDE130672007

Esma’il Javadi (m), aged 31, journalist, Ebulfezl Alilu (m), Ramin Sadeghi (m), Azerbaijani cultural and linguistic, Qahreman Qanbarpour (m), rights activists, Adel Allahverdipour (m), Jelil Qanilu, or (new spelling) Ghanilou (m), Safar Ali Kho’ini (m), Ja’far Haqnazari (m).

Jelil Qanilu, or Ghanilou, was reportedly released around 10 days after his arrest in Zenjan on 21 February, but has reportedly now been rearrested. He was among 25 people detained in connection with their participation in events marking International Mother Language Day.

In a 28 May report in the online news service Advar News, Jelil Ghanilou's brother was quoted as saying he had been rearrested at 10pm the previous day.

Amnesty International has no further information about Jelil Ghanilou, who may be a prisoner of conscience, and is concerned for his safety. Secret detention has been shown to facilitate torture and ill-treatment. Prolonged incommunicado detention can in itself be a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

A statement issued by the National Movement of Azerbaijan – Zenjan (Harakat-e Melli-ye Azerbaijan – Zenjan) on 2 June entitled "Where are Sa’id Metinpour and Jelil Ghanilou?" drew attention to the authorities' failure to provide any information about the men’s whereabouts, especially to their families, and to allegations that the authorities were putting pressure on newspapers in Zenjan, particularly Mardom-e No (New People), which had attempted to report on the arrests, in order to keep these and other arrests secret.

The rearrest of Jelil Ghanilou took place at around the time of a series of demonstrations that started in late May and which have affected most areas where Iranian Azerbaijanis live. The demonstrations were held following the first anniversary of widespread and often spontaneous demonstrations which took place on 22 May 2006 in protest at the publication in a national newspaper of a cartoon which was offensive to many Iranian Azerbaijanis. In the course of the May 2006 demonstrations up to 19 people were reportedly killed and hundreds arrested.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Iranian Azerbaijanis speak a Turkic language and are mainly Shi’a Muslims. The largest minority in Iran, they are believed to make up 25-30 per cent of the population; they live mainly in the north and north-west of the country, and in the capital, Tehran. There is a growing demand from them for greater cultural and linguistic rights, including implementation of their constitutional right to education through the medium of Azerbaijani Turkic. Those who seek to promote Azerbaijani cultural identity and linguistic rights are viewed with suspicion by the authorities.

Article 15 of Iran’s Constitution states that Persian is the official language of Iran and that "official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as textbooks, must be in this language and script." It adds that "the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian."

International Mother Language Day is an annual event initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and is held on 21 February. See: Iran: Ethnic minorities facing new wave of human rights violations, (MDE 13/020/200, 26 February 2007) at http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engMDE130202007?open&of=eng-IRN

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English, Persian, Azerbaijani or your own language:

- expressing concern at the reports that Jelil Ghanilou has been rearrested and is now in secret detention;

- urging the authorities to grant Jelil Ghanilou immediate and regular access to his family and to lawyers of his choice;

- stating that if the reason for his continued detention is solely related to the expression of his conscientiously held beliefs, then he is a prisoner of conscience, and should be released immediately and unconditionally;

- seeking assurances that Jelil Ghanilou is being protected from torture or ill-treatment and that he has access to any medical treatment he may require.


Appeals To Hidden Supporters Of Islamist Mafia Regime:

- British Neo Colonialists Government
- Big Oil Companies
- UN
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:04 am    Post subject: Iran Parliament Backs Porn Death Penalty Reply with quote

To Watch Video Regarding Execution Of Children and Porn Star Victims
http://community.activistchat.com/kickapps/service/displayLargeList.kickAction?b=31614&as=4685&pageId=62213

Watch Video AHANG DAR BAREYE ZAHRA AMIR EBRAHIMI


Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Wikipedia wrote:

Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Amir_Ebrahimi


Zahra Amir Ebrahimi

Background information
Born 1981
Origin Iran
Occupation(s) actress
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi (Persian: زهرا اميرابراهيمی) (born 1981) is an Iranian television actress. She is one of the most popular actresses in Iran.[1]

The actress is well known in Iran for her role in the popular Iranian soap opera Narges, as a pious young woman.


Scandal
main article: Iranian sex tape scandal
In 2006, Ebrahimi became the centre of an Iranian sex tape scandal when a videotape of a woman having sex with a man was leaked to the internet and released on DVD. She subsequently became the subject of an official investigation handled by Tehran's hard-line chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, and may face fines, public lashing or worse for her violation of Iran's morality laws.

The unnamed man on the tape, who is suspected of releasing it, reportedly fled to Armenia but was subsequently returned to Iran and charged with breach of public morality laws [1]

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi denied being the woman in the film and dismissed it as a fake made by a vengeful former fiancé who used studio techniques to form a montage of incriminating images designed to destroy her career.

Rumors of an attempted suicide were also denied by Zahra with a public message: "I just want to tell my country's people I am alive. I am thinking about the strength of Iranian women and will defend the respect of the girls and women of my nation."


Quote:
Iran Parliament Backs Porn Death Penalty
June 14, 2007
The Associated Press
Nasser Karimi
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070614/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_pornography_death_penalty


Iran's parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies. In a 148-5 vote, lawmakers approved a measure saying "producers of pornographic works and main elements in their production are considered corruptors of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corruptors of the world."

The term, "corruptor of the world" is taken from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual's criminal offenses. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.

The "main elements" referred to in the draft include producers, directors, cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.

Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVDs and CDs. Other material, such as pornographic magazines and books are already banned under Iranian law.

To become law, the bill requires approval from the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog in this conservative Islamic country.

It is widely believed that the bill came as a reaction to a scandal last year, when a private videotape, apparently belonging to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi and allegedly showing her having intercourse with a man, became available across Iran.

The video was leaked to the Internet and released as a black market DVD, becoming a full-blown Iranian scandal. Ebrahimi later came under an official investigation, which is still ongoing.

Ebrahimi denied that she was the woman in the film in an interview with the British newspaper Guardian earlier this year and dismissed it as a fake, made by a vengeful former fiance bent on destroying her career.


Quote:

Iran to execute porn stars
Iranian Parliament approves legislation to execute pornography makers

14 June 2007
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/msFullArt.asp?an=12834

The Iranian Parliament has voted 148-5 in favour of the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies.

Lawmakers passed the legislation which says "producers of pornographic works and main elements in their production are considered corrupter of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corrupter of the world."

The term "corrupter of the world" is taken from the Quran and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual's criminal offenses. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.

Persons who could be executed include producers, directors, camerapersons, managers and the actors themselves.

Following porn scandals, the ultra conversative Muslim nation compiled the controversial bill, which also envisages convictions ranging from one year imprisonment to a death sentence for the main distributors of the movies and also producers of web content in which the pornography appears.

Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVDs and CDs. Other material, such as porn magazines and books, are already banned under Iranian law.

To become law, the bill requires an approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog in Iran.

It is widely believed that the drafting of the bill came about as a reaction to a scandal last year, when a private videotape, apparently belonging to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi and allegedly showing her having intercourse with a man, became available across Iran.

The videotape was leaked to the Internet and released on a black market DVD, becoming a full-blown Iranian sex tape scandal. Ebrahimi later came under an official investigation, which is still ongoing. She faces fines, whip lashing or worse for her violation of Iran's morality laws, CNN reported.

The unnamed man on the tape, who is suspected of releasing it, reportedly fled to Armenia but was subsequently returned to Iran and charged with breach of public morality laws and currently remains in jail.


Zahra Amir Ebrahimi



In an exclusive interview with the British newspaper The Guardian earlier this year, Ebrahimi denied she was the woman in the film and dismissed it as a fake, made by a vengeful former boyfriend bent on destroying her career.

In recent years, private videotapes have increasingly been leaked to the public in Iran, riling the government and many in this conservative country, where open talk of sex is banned and considered taboo.

However, pornographic material is easily accessible through foreign satellite television channels in Iran. Bootleg videotapes and CDs are also available on the black market on many street corners and this legislation is set to tackle the current illegal porn business currently flourishing in Iranian markets
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:03 pm    Post subject: Stop Stoning Forever Campaign Reply with quote

Watch Mullahs Executing Iranian Youth Music Video


Quote:

Stop Stoning Forever Campaign
Urgent Press Release
No. 86-3-a

URGENT: A Man and a Woman Schedule To Be Stoned on Thursday, June 21

The news about the scheduled stoning of a man and a woman in Takistan, Ghazvin, was spread through mobile phone messages and the Internet. The office of Showraye Tameen of Ghazvin province has issued the order to stone and man and a woman in public.

The judge of Branch 1 of the Criminal Court of Takistan will be present in person to throw the first stone. This was scheduled to be done on Sunday, June 17, but the Office of Showraye Tameen of Ghazvin province postponed it to Thursday, June 21.

Mokarrameh Ebrahimi is a 43 year old woman and mother of an 11 year old who has spent the past 11 years in Choubin prison in Ghazvin after being sentenced to stoning. The father of the child has also been in prison for 11 years and is scheduled to be stoned with her.

According to the Meydaan, the official site of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, an informed source has verified the news and added that “the pits are dug and prepared in Behesht Zahra cemetery to implement the sentence.”

This source also added that the sentence has been issued solely based on the judge’s knowledge, and there have been no witnesses to the so called crime of adultery and having a child out of wedlock. It seems that the couple have lived together for a while and shortly after been imprisoned. There are different rumors about the woman’s past. Some say that her husband had thrown her out of the house and she had been living with her mother for two years. Both the man and the woman have children from their previous marriages. Mokarrameh, who is the mother of three children, is very distressed and in sever disarray in prison.

It seems that after the appeal to the Judicial Commission for Amnesty and Clemency had been rejected, it is going to be carried out as the result of the perseverance of one of the judiciary officials in Ghazvin.


The official announcement about the stoning is going to be posted at the site of execution in order to invite the public to participate in the process in Takistan. This is while the Iranian officials continue to deny any stoning sentence.

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign activists plea to the citizens of the world to take any actions they possibly can in order to stop the stoning of this couple from taking place.

Further detailed information will be provided as campaign activists are trying to obtain more knowledge about the case in Takistan. To contact campaign activists in the US or Iran please email Soheila Vahdati <soheilavahdati@gmail.com> or Shadi Sadr <shadisadr@gmail.com>.
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remarks by President Bush at Rededication Ceremony of the Islamic Center of
Washington


President George W. Bush
The Islamic Center of Washington
Washington, DC
June 27, 2007

11:08 A.M. EDT

Imam, thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me. I bring my personal
respect to you, sir. And I appreciate your friendship. I do want to thank the
governors of the Islamic Center. I welcome the Ambassadors. Thank you all for
coming. I appreciate other distinguished guests who are here. It is an honor to
join you at this rededication ceremony.

As the Imam mentioned, half a century has passed since one of our great leaders
welcomed the Islamic Center into our nation's family of faith. Dedicating this
site, President Dwight D. Eisenhower offered America's hand in friendship to
Muslims around the world. He asked that together we commit ourselves "to
peaceful progress of all men under one God."

Today we gather, with friendship and respect, to reaffirm that pledge -- and to
renew our determination to stand together in the pursuit of freedom and peace.
We come to express our appreciation for a faith that has enriched civilization
for centuries. We come in celebration of America's diversity of faith and our
unity as free people. And we hold in our hearts the ancient wisdom of the great
Muslim poet, Rumi: "The lamps are different, but the light is the same."

Moments like this dedication help clarify who Americans are as a people, and
what we wish for the world. We live in a time when there are questions about
America and her intentions. For those who seek a true understanding of our
country, they need to look no farther than here. This Muslim center sits
quietly down the road from a synagogue, a Lutheran church, a Catholic parish, a
Greek Orthodox chapel, a Buddhist temple -- each with faithful followers who
practice their deeply held beliefs and live side by side in peace.

This is what freedom offers: societies where people can live and worship as
they choose without intimidation, without suspicion, without a knock on the
door from the secret police. The freedom of religion is the very first
protection offered in America's Bill of Rights. It is a precious freedom. It is
a basic compact under which people of faith agree not to impose their spiritual
vision on others, and in return to practice their own beliefs as they see fit.
This is the promise of our Constitution, and the calling of our conscience, and
a source of our strength.

The freedom to worship is so central to America's character that we tend to
take it personally when that freedom is denied to others. Our country was a
leading voice on behalf of the Jewish refusniks in the Soviet Union. Americans
joined in common cause with Catholics and Protestants who prayed in secret
behind an Iron Curtain. America has stood with Muslims seeking to freely
practice their beliefs in places such as Burma and China.

To underscore America's respect for the Muslim faith here at home, I came to
this Center six days after the 9/11 attacks to denounce incidents of prejudice
against Muslim Americans. (Applause.) Today I am announcing a new initiative
that will improve mutual understanding and cooperation between America and
people in predominately Muslim countries.

I will appoint a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
This is the first time a President has made such an appointment to the OIC.
(Applause.) Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives
from Muslim states and will share with them America's views and values. This is
an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate to Muslim communities our interest
in respectful dialogue and continued friendship.

We have seen that friendship reflected in the outpouring of support Americans
have extended to Muslim communities across the globe during times of war and
natural disaster. Americans came to the aid of the victims of devastating
earthquakes in Pakistan and Iran, and responded with urgency and compassion to
the wreckage of the tsunami in Indonesia and Malaysia. Our country defended
Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo after the breakup of Yugoslavia. (Applause.) Today
we are rallying the world to confront genocide in Sudan. Americans of all
beliefs have undertaken these efforts out of compassion, conviction, and
conscience.

The greatest challenge facing people of conscience is to help the forces of
moderation win the great struggle against extremism that is now playing out
across the broader Middle East. We've seen the expansion of the concept of
religious freedom and individual rights in every region of the world -- except
one. In the Middle East, we have seen instead the rise of a group of extremists
who seek to use religion as a path to power and a means of domination.

These self-appointed vanguard -- this self-appointed vanguard presumes to speak
for Muslims. They do not. They call all Muslims who do not believe in their
harsh and hateful ideology "infidels" and "betrayers" of the true Muslim faith.
This enemy falsely claims that America is at war with Muslims and the Muslim
faith, when in fact it is these radicals who are Islam's true enemy.
(Applause.)

They have staged spectacular attacks on Muslim holy sites to divide Muslims and
make them fight one another. The majority of the victims of their acts of
terror are Muslims. In Afghanistan, they have targeted teachers for beatings
and murder. In Iraq, they killed a young boy, and then booby-trapped his body
so it would explode when his family came to retrieve him. They put children in
the backseat of a car so they could pass a security checkpoint, and then blew
up the car with the children still inside. These enemies bombed a wedding
reception in Amman, Jordan, a housing complex in Saudi Arabia, a hotel in
Jakarta. They claim to undertake these acts of butchery and mayhem in the name
of Allah. Yet this enemy is not the true face of Islam, this enemy is the face
of hatred.

Men and women of conscience have a duty to speak out and condemn this murderous
movement before it finds its path to power. We must help millions of Muslims as
they rescue a proud and historic religion from murderers and beheaders who seek
to soil the name of Islam. And in this effort, moderate Muslim leaders have the
most powerful and influential voice. We admire and thank those Muslims who have
denounced what the Secretary General of the OIC called "radical fringe elements
who pretend that they act in the name of Islam." We must encourage more Muslim
leaders to add their voices, to speak out against radical extremists who
infiltrate mosques, to denounce organizations that use the veneer of Islamic
belief to support and fund acts of violence, and to reach out to young Muslims
-- even in our country and elsewhere in the free world -- who believe suicide
bombing may some day be justified.

We need to rally the voices of Muslims who can speak most directly to millions
in the Arab world left behind in the global movement toward prosperity and
freedom. For decades the free world abandoned Muslims in the Middle East to
tyrants, and terrorists, and hopelessness. This was done in the interests of
stability and peace, but instead the approach brought neither. The Middle East
became an incubator for terrorism and despair, and the result was an increase
in Muslims' hostility to the West. I have invested the heart of my presidency
in helping Muslims fight terrorism, and claim their liberty, and find their own
unique paths to prosperity and peace.

The efforts underway in Afghanistan and Iraq are central in this struggle, but
that struggle is not going to end the threats; it's not going to end there. We
believe the ultimate success of Afghans and Iraqis will inspire others who want
to live in freedom, as well. We will work toward a day when a democratic
Palestine lives side by side with Israel in peace. (Applause.) We have already
seen stirrings of a democratic future in other parts of the Middle East, though
it will take time for liberty to flower. A democratic future is not a plan
imposed by Western nations, it is a future that the people of the region will
seize for themselves. A future of freedom is the dream and the desire of every
loving heart.

We know this because of the 8 million people who braved threats and
intimidation to vote in Afghanistan. We know this because of the nearly 12
million people who cast ballots in free elections in Iraq. And we know this
because the world watched as the citizens of Lebanon raised the banner of the
Cedar Revolution, drove out their Syrian occupiers, and chose new leaders under
free elections. Even now the hope for freedom is felt in some dark corners in
the Middle East -- whispering in living rooms, and coffee houses, and in
classrooms. Millions seek a path to the future where they can say what they
think, travel where they wish, and worship as they choose. They plead in
silence for their liberty -- and they hope someone, somewhere will answer.

So today, in this place of free worship, in the heart of a free nation, we say
to those who yearn for freedom from Damascus to Tehran: You are not bound
forever by your misery. You plead in silence no longer. The free world hears
you. You are not alone. America offers you its hand in friendship. We work for
the day when we can welcome you into the family of free nations. We pray that
you and your children may one day know freedom in all things, including the
freedom to love and to worship the Almighty God.


May God bless you.


************************************************************
See http://www.state.gov for Senior State Department
Official's statements and testimonies
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cyrus
Site Admin


Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oppenheimer wrote:
Remarks by President Bush at Rededication Ceremony of the Islamic Center of
Washington


President George W. Bush
The Islamic Center of Washington
Washington, DC
June 27, 2007

So today, in this place of free worship, in the heart of a free nation, we say
to those who yearn for freedom from Damascus to Tehran: You are not bound
forever by your misery. You plead in silence no longer. The free world hears
you. You are not alone. America offers you its hand in friendship. We work for
the day when we can welcome you into the family of free nations. We pray that
you and your children may one day know freedom in all things, including the
freedom to love and to worship the Almighty God.


May God bless you.

************************************************************
See http://www.state.gov for Senior State Department
Official's statements and testimonies

I believe it when I see it, President Bush should read Mr. Amil Imani article series before visiting Islamic Center in Washington
The Grand Delusion Islam By: Amil Imani .
President Bush has not accepted that his Islamic Democracy failed in Iraq, Iran ....
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blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cyrus wrote:
Oppenheimer wrote:
Remarks by President Bush at Rededication Ceremony of the Islamic Center of
Washington


President George W. Bush
The Islamic Center of Washington
Washington, DC
June 27, 2007

So today, in this place of free worship, in the heart of a free nation, we say
to those who yearn for freedom from Damascus to Tehran: You are not bound
forever by your misery. You plead in silence no longer. The free world hears
you. You are not alone. America offers you its hand in friendship. We work for
the day when we can welcome you into the family of free nations. We pray that
you and your children may one day know freedom in all things, including the
freedom to love and to worship the Almighty God.


May God bless you.

************************************************************
See http://www.state.gov for Senior State Department
Official's statements and testimonies

I believe it when I see it, President Bush should read Mr. Amil Imani article series before visiting Islamic Center in Washington
The Grand Delusion Islam By: Amil Imani .
President Bush has not accepted that his Islamic Democracy failed in Iraq, Iran ....

And Afghanistan.....
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Oppenheimer



Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Posts: 1166
Location: SantaFe, New Mexico

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Game's not over yet Cyrus.....wait for it.....MMmmm, I smell something burning....got a match Cyrus? By the time you take a flight to Iran and are able to use it on a petrol station, there won't be any left to burn at the rate the Iranian population is torching them.

I guess your basic objection stems from the fact that Bush's words back up everything I've ever said about Islam and the war within Islam for its true identity.

But then you'll never admit that anything I have to say has been proven correct time and again over time, will you?

Well, live and learn bro....all good things take time.

EJ
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cyrus
Site Admin


Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:24 pm    Post subject: Iran Sentences Woman Rights Activist to Lashes, Jail Reply with quote

Iran Sentences Woman Rights Activist to Lashes, Jail

July 03, 2007
AFP
FOCUS News Agency

http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n116315

Tehran -- Iran has sentenced a women's rights activist to flogging and almost three years in jail for taking part in a 2006 protest over "discriminatory" laws, the ILNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Delaram Ali was sentenced to 10 lashes and two years and ten months in jail for "participation in an illegal gathering", "propaganda against the system" and "disturbing public order", her lawyer Nasrin Sotoodeh told ILNA.

Ali was one of the 70 people arrested in June 2006 in a protest at a Tehran main square against articles in Iranian law which are seen as discriminating against women.

"Delaram Ali's sentence is too heavy, we will definitely protest the unlawful verdict. A flogging sentence for social and women's rights activists is against international law," Sotoodeh said.

Several other women were sentenced to jail for taking part in the protest, which was dispersed amid allegations of police brutality, but little-known activist Ali was given the most severe punishment.
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