Tuesday, March 24, 2009
  Peace needed now!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-human-shields-claim

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-war-crimes-medics

If nothing else, the war between Hamas and Israel demonstrates yet again the grim fact that in warfare international law bears little weight. Even if the leaders who commission or allow war crimes to go on unhampered are brought to trial, there seems to be we can do to deter deplorable behavior by armies all over the world. These two reports deal with Israeli crimes. We are all aware of Hamas's crimes -- suicide bombings in buses or pizza parlors, rocket attacks which hit towns, not military posts.

They say those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. And often this adage is quoted to show how people who do wrong things have not learned that crime does not pay. One fears, however, that both sides in this conflict have learned all to well. They have seen that the world is either impotent or does not have the will to prevent atrocities. Srebenica comes to mind. They have learned that terrorizing civilian populations is a potent weapon in any war. Again, Srebenica.

We rightly lay blame on Hzmas and the IDF for their disregard for civilian safety, but we must also take a hard look at our selves, and our leaders who treasure national autonomy over the great good of humankind at large.
 

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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


What I'm reading now



Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

Causes Worth Supporting

This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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