Call for Protection of the Journalists on the Freedom Flotilla

The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate PJS and the International Federation of Journalists IFJ call for to the protection of the journalists participating on the Freedom Flotilla of the humanitarian aid-carrying ships, which were stormed and stopped by the Israeli war criminals. The Israelis have threatened to confiscate the films with which the Journalists documented the Israeli piracy act and the massacre perpetrated by their military boats and helicopters against civilians, killing at least twenty and wounding dozens.

The PJS directed letters to the international Journalists Unions demanding condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli massacre, and asked them to intervene to protect journalists who are victims of the Israeli oppression and crimes.

The PJS stated that the assault on journalists, peace activists and volunteers is an international crime of racism which should be denounced by the whole world. The world should break the silence on these violations and expose the policies of the racist extremists, the Israeli right-wing zionists and their crimes, which confirms the continued violation of international laws and legal precepts.

The PJS greeted and expressed its solidarity with all the satellite TV crews and the journalists from all newspapers of Arab and foreign media participating in the humanitarian flotilla, noting that their solidarity is respected by our nation and raises our morale while we suffer under the continued crimes, violations of humanity, indecency, and siege of the Israeli occupation.

On the other hand the International Federation of Palestinian journalists expressed its shock about the Israeli crime and said that there are journalists among the in a statement: “The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today reacted with shock at the news of the brutal attacks on civilians, including journalists, by Israeli forces in the assault on a flotilla that yesterday tried to breach the military blockade of the Gaza coastline in Palestine.

The IFJ said that reports of casualties – including possible deaths of media staff – were unconfirmed and a curtain of secrecy drawn around the incident by the Israeli authorities was increasing anxiety among friends and relatives. The IFJ is calling for an urgent and comprehensive international investigation into the incident and for the information blackout to be lifted.

“We join the European Union in demanding a full inquiry which must be independent in order to be credible. We condemn any attempt at the blackout and censorship of news by the Israeli authorities which is hindering journalists from giving an accurate account of what is happening,” said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President.

The IFJ believes that 20 journalists and media staff from a number of different countries were on board when the attacks took place, according to Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. He said the IFJ is fully investigating the incident and plans to raise the issue at a special meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council planned for Geneva on Wednesday. The IFJ is also writing today to the Israeli government warning them about their responsibility vis-à-vis the security of the journalists on the flotilla and is asking its member union in Israel to take the matter up with the authorities.

“The international community must respond immediately to this outrage,” said White. “The rights of journalists in conflict zones have been particularly highlighted by the United Nations and members states cannot stand by when one state acts in a reckless and dangerous manner.”

Notably, Al-Jazeera announced the names of their detainees on the Freedom Flotilla ship: Abbas Nasir, Osman Al-Betiary, Mohamed Fall, Ali Sabri, Andre Khalil, Jamal Al-Shayal, Essam Zaatar, Wasemah Ben Saleh. Al-Jazeera demanded that Israel release it’s journalists and cameramen and all the detainee journalists

by Kawther Salam

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Direct Bias Showed on BBC on Flotilla Crime

PRC Action Alert – The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) expressed its deep apprehension and anger over the BBC coverage regarding freedom Flotilla. The Freedom Flotilla which is a mere humanitarian mission has been covered by a wide range of western media outlets in the last few days. The BBC started to speak about the Boats of the flotilla only in the last 2 days.

In most of its coverage BBC depended on Israeli sources whilst the Palestinian side has been ignored. PRC suggests that such coverage harm the image of BBC and could classify it as an alternative for some Israeli media outlets. PRC and part of its day-to-day monitoring for BBC observed the following:

On one of its today’s article BBC gave a space for the Israeli side while it has ignored the Palestinian side. The official account of Israel though, Danny Ayalon, Israeli deputy foreign minister was presented, which stated that organizers’ intent was violent. The article mentioned that ‘Guns and knives’ were used by the civilian passengers.

The great exposure of Israeli account continued on the BBC breakfast (BBC TV) and its running news casts. Spokespersons and Israeli officials were given a chance to justify the Israeli attack. BBC reporters in Israel also contribute to this dilemma as they only speak out what they get from the official Israeli sources.

PRC call on BBC to stand neutral and give up its routine policies of quickly admitting and giving a space for the Israeli narrative. The centre puts the facts ahead to the BBC that Israel announced its intent to attack these boats a few days ago. This gives us a direct and clear-cut massage that Israel will be inventing propaganda and lies to cover up its crime today.

BBC should give more focus on the other side of the story which is the massive scale of the victims, the legality of this attack which happened in the international waters. BBC should investigate the last Israeli positions over the past week and compare it with what happened today. People in the UK, and elsewhere who watch the BBC aspire found non bias accounts and true stories. But, sadly what’s being going on BBC is one sided and reach the degree of flagrant bias.

With so many different sources of information from governments to NGOs, the BBC finds it morally and journalistically appropriate to provide justifications of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for its unprovoked crime. The BBC is alone in quoting the IDF that the Flotilla had violent intentions and humanitarian personnel on board were carrying knives, guns and fired shots.

The BBC thinks it’s an impartial organizations, in fact it has shown that it’s a mouth piece for the IDFs crimes. The BBC should recognize that an impartial position at this early stage would have been to simply state the facts as accepted by the international community and not provide justifications for the killings of 19 innocent civilians.

BBC spokesperson, told PRC that, ‘We are unable to respond as we have not been given the courtesy of detailed evidence of any accusation.’ However, PRC told the spokesperson of the above mentioned coverage and the time of the news casts.

PRC call on activists, journalists to protest against the BBC performance. File a complaint against BBC: 03700100222 or by web feedback.

by Kawther Salam

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5. Call for Protection of the Journalists on the Freedom Flotilla The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate PJS and the International Federation of Journalists IFJ call for to the protection of the journalists...

Flotilla Massacre is a Reply to the Turkish-Iranian Relations

The leaders of the Israeli gang of War criminals, the so-called “Israeli government” is currently engaged in inciting and planning to launch a nuclear war against Iran, was not able to do anything in response to the Turkish- Iranian-Brazilian agreement of last May 17 2010 to transfer 1.200 Kg of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel. In retaliation, they perpetrated the massacre on the Freedom Flotilla of humanitarian aid-carrying ships aiming to break the Israel genocide of siege on Gaza imposed since 2006. The Turkish-Iranian-Brazilian agreement stood as an obstacle against the Israeli ambitions to force the world to enter into a spiral of bloody nuclear war. It is wrong to believe that the Turkish government was not expecting the massacre against the Freedom Flotilla which carried 10.000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

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Deck of an israeli gun boat.

The military maritime piracy and massacre operation carried out by Shayetet 13, a naval commando unit, in which at least 20 peace activists were murdered and over 50 were wounded, was a decision of the inner circles of power in israel and approved by the Israeli Cabinet headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and other war criminals. This Israeli massacre was a message addressed to Turkey and its new Iranian and Syrian allies. Anyone who knows to read between the lines and the history of Israel’s military leaders can understand that Israel has never distinguished between civilians and militants of the groups which are considered as enemies according to the non-logical standards of the zionists.

The Turkish Aid Ship, Marmara.

Israel committed a massacre against the Turkish ship “Marmara”, which carried humanitarian aid to the Palestinians besieged in the Gaza concentration camp. This massacre was well prepared by the Israeli cabinet, and some pro-Israel governments were informed with full details about the planned crime. Israel commissioned a special unit in the Marine Corps, deployed boats and helicopters patrolling the coast of Ashdod and Gaza and announced the waters off the coast of Gaza a closed military zone. They also announced via their propaganda organs of their intent to transfer the ships and the solidarity activists to the port of Ashdod before deporting them to their countries as illegal immigrants, and to arrest those who refused to identify themselves and sign a pledge not to return. They also prepared tents as detention units to jailing the activists and investigating them; the team of the interrogators which Israel choose to interrogate the peace activist was manned by people with experience as torturers and who had previously “worked” the Palestinian prisoners of the israeli gulag.

Israeli special forces helicopter.

The Israeli ships monitored the Freedom Flotilla from a distance of about 124 km away of the coast of Israel. According to the international movement, the passengers rushed to wear the safe jackets and raised the alert status as soon as the war ships were visible. The peace activists on board of the convoy stated that three Israeli ships spoke to the Turkish ship Captain over radio and warned him of the consequences of approaching the coast of Gaza which was declared as the a closed military area. They demanded from them to bring the humanitarian aid to the port of Ashdod, stressing that the Israeli navy would prevent the penetration a military closed area at any price, meaning that they would not shrink from murdering anybody.

Israeli gun boat, paid in full by German tax payers.

The ships were carrying 10.000 tons of medical supplies and building materials, timber, and 100 pre-built houses, for ten thousands of people who lost their homes due to the Israeli war crimes on Gaza early in the year of 2009. They also carried 500 electric vehicles for the use of disabled people, especially since the recent Israeli war crimes over 600 were left permanently disabled, with amputated legs.

The Israeli Arab Knesset MP Hanan Al-Zoubi had spoken through a loudspeaker in Hebrew with the Israeli military telling them to not attack ships carrying civilian peace activists and humanitarian aid. She added that during her appeal the Israeli soldiers fired live bullets at ships, which led to the wounding of civilians, among them the Arab-Israeli citizen Sheikh Raed Salah, who was shot and now in a critical conditions. She added: “the Israeli gunboats approached the “Caravan of freedom” and asked the captain of the ship to identify himself and the identity of the boat. The ships were in the International waters about 100 miles from Gaza. At this moment the Israeli helicopters attacked the ships from the sky.

Turkish sources and media revealed a document which shows that a death list had been prepared in advance by the Israelis, showing names and pictures of people on board of the ships to be murdered, who, according to Israel, were “involved in the International humanitarian aid for Gaza”. According to the Turkish sources, hundreds of Israeli soldiers stormed the blue Turkish ship “Marmara” flotilla and they had copies of the death list. The list included the names of civilians on the fleet who should be killed”. The document was apparently recovered after one of the Israeli soldiers lost it during the piracy act.

Regarding the complicity of other foreign states in this crime, it has transcended that the Germans Parliamentarians who were on-board, Annette Groth, Inge Höger and Norman Paech, had repeatedly asked the German Foreign Ministry for support and protection, but were rebuffed and instead they were warned to get off the flotilla because of unspecified “dangers”. The strange attitude of Cyprus, which neither allowed the ships to enter port, nor allowed a delegation of Parliamentarians to board the ships, can in retrospect only be explained with the prior knowledge and complicity in the crime if the Cypriot regime.

In the end, Israel has carried out a horrific bloody massacre, and the victims were all civilians.The questions remain: Did Israel achieve its goals with the massacre on the Freedom Flotilla ship? Did Turkey and the other countries on Israel secret hate list (who are listed in secret as “hostile enemies”) receive the Israeli message? Which was the Israeli message? The answer to the first question is a clear now, and the coming days will reveal the answer to the second question and whether Israel really considers Turkey an enemy in secret. Whatever the answers to these questions, Israel should admit that the political equation has changed in the region and Israel and its allies can no longer change the politics.

In the best interest of everybody, Israel should understand that everything they do is against them and that it would be better to desist from further criminal actions. Also in the best interest of everybody, all other nations must understand that Israel no longer has any legitimacy whatsoever as a state, and that its continued existence as a state is undesirable in the extreme to everybody outside of the tiny corrupt elites which are its support base overseas.

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La masacre de la flotilla humanitaria es una respuesta a las relaciones turco-iraníes

Los líderes de la pandilla de criminales de guerra israelíes, llamado “gobierno israelí” está llevando a cabo la incitación y la planificación para lanzar una guerra nuclear contra Irán, no pudo hacer nada en respuesta al acuerdo turco-iraní-brasileño del pasado 17 de mayo de 2010 para la transferencia de 1.200 Kg de uranio de bajo enriquecimiento a Turquía a cambio de combustible nuclear. En represalia, perpetraron la masacre de la Flotilla de la Libertad con ayuda humanitaria con el objetivo de parar el genocidio de Israel contra Gaza impuesto desde 2006.

El acuerdo turco-iraní-brasileño se presentó como un obstáculo frente a las ambiciones de Israel de forzar al mundo para entrar en una espiral sangrienta de una guerra nuclear. Es un error creer que el Gobierno turco no esperaba la masacre en contra de la Flotilla de la Libertad que llevaba 10,000 toneladas de ayuda humanitaria a Gaza.

La piratería marítima militar y la masacre realizada por el Shayetet 13, una unidad de comandos naval, en la cual al menos 20 activistas de paz fueron asesinados y más de 50 fueron heridos, era una decisión de los círculos interiores del poder en Israel y se aprobó por el Gabinete israelí encabezado por Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak y otros criminales de guerra. Esta masacre israelí era un mensaje dirigido a Turquía y sus nuevos aliados iraníes y sirios. Alguien que sabe para leer entre líneas y la historia de los líderes militares de Israel puede entender que Israel nunca se ha distinguido entre civiles y militantes de grupos que se consideran como enemigos según los estándares no lógicos de los sionistas.

Los barcos israelíes supervisaron la Flotilla Libertad desde una distancia de unos 124 km de la costa de Israel. De acuerdo con el movimiento internacional, los pasajeros se apresuraron a llevar chalecos de seguridad y levantó el estado de alerta tan pronto como los buques de guerra fueron visibles. Los activistas por la paz a bordo del convoy declararon que tres barcos israelíes hablaron con el capitán del buque turco por radio y le advirtió de las consecuencias de acercarse a la costa de Gaza, que fue declarada como área militar cerrada. Exigieron llevar la ayuda humanitaria al puerto de Ashdod, haciendo hincapié en que la armada israelí impediría la penetración de una zona militar cerrada a cualquier precio, lo que significa que no tendría ningún inconveniente en asesinar a alguien.

Las barcos estaban llevando 10,000 toneladas de suministros médicos y materiales de construcción, madera, y 100 casas pre-construidas, para decenas de miles de personas que perdieron sus hogares debido a los crímenes de guerra de Israel contra Gaza a principios del año 2009. También llevaban 500 vehículos eléctricos para el uso de personas con discapacidad, sobre todo porque los crímenes de guerra israelíes recientes más de 600 quedaron permanentemente discapacitados, con las piernas amputadas.

La árabe israelí del Knesset, Hanan Al-Zoubi había hablado a través de un altavoz en hebreo con los militares israelíes diciéndoles que no atacaran los buques que transportaban activistas civiles de paz y ayuda humanitaria. Agregó que durante su apelación a los soldados israelíes dispararon balas en vivo en los buques, lo que condujo que civiles fueran heridos, entre ellos el ciudadano árabe-israelí el jeque Raed Salah, quien fue baleado y ahora está en estado crítico. Y agregó: “las cañoneras israelíes se acercaron a la” Caravana de la libertad “y pidió al capitán del buque que se identificara y la identidad del barco. Los barcos se encontraban en aguas internacionales a unos 100 kilómetros de Gaza. En ese momento los helicópteros israelíes atacaron las naves desde el cielo.

Fuentes turcas y medios de comunicación revelaron un documento que acreditaba que una lista de muertos había sido preparada de antemano por los israelíes, mostrando los nombres y fotos de personas a bordo de los buques para ser asesinados, que, según Israel, ” participan en la ayuda humanitaria internacional para Gaza”. Según fuentes turcas, cientos de soldados israelíes irrumpieron en el barco turco azul “Marmara” y tenían copias de la lista de la muerte. La lista incluía los nombres de los civiles que debían matar “. El documento fue recuperado al parecer después de que uno de los soldados israelíes lo perdiera durante el acto de piratería.

En cuanto a la complicidad de otros Estados extranjeros en este crimen, ha trascendido que los parlamentarios alemanes que estaban a bordo, Annette Groth, Höger Inge y N Orman Paech, había pedido reiteradamente al Ministerio alemán de Relaciones Exteriores apoyo y protección, pero fueron rechazados y en cambio, se les advirtió no bajar de la flotilla sin especificar el “peligro”. La extraña actitud de Chipre, que no permitió a los barcos entrar en el puerto, y no se permitió que una delegación de parlamentarios subiera a bordo de los barcos, en retrospectiva puede explicarse sólo con el conocimiento previo y la complicidad en el delito, del régimen chipriota.

Al final, Israel ha llevado a cabo una sangrienta y horrible masacre , siendo todas las víctimas civiles. Las preguntas permanecen: ¿Conseguirá Israel sus objetivos con la masacre de la “Flotilla de la libertad”? ¿Turquía y los demás países habrán recibido algún mensaje de Israel? ¿Cuál fue el mensaje de Israel? La respuesta a la primera cuestión es un claro ahora, y los próximos días revelará la respuesta a la segunda cuestión y si realmente Israel considera a Turquía un enemigo en secreto. Sea cual sea la respuesta a estas preguntas, Israel debe reconocer que la ecuación política ha cambiado en la región e Israel y sus aliados ya no puede cambiar la política.

En el mejor interés de todos, Israel debe comprender que todo lo que hacen está en contra de ellos y que sería mejor que se abstenga de realizar nuevos actos criminales. Asimismo, en el mejor interés de todos, todas las demás naciones deben entender que Israel ya no tiene legitimidad alguna como estado, y que su existencia como un estado no es deseable en el extremo a cada uno fuera de las élites corruptas diminutas que son su base de apoyo en el extranjero.

by Kawther Salam

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Wien ist mehr

Das Stadt.Fest.Wien steht heuer ganz im Zeichen unserer Hauptstadt. Unter dem Motto “Wien ist mehr!” bietet die 27. Auflage des Stadtfestes wieder Unterhaltung auf hohem Niveau für die ganze Familie. Das heurige Programm extrahiert die schier unglaubliche Fülle an künstlerischem Schaffen und kulturellen Wirken, die Wien hervorbringt. Welchen Blick haben Menschen außerhalb unserer Stadt auf Wien? Welche Künstlerinnen und Künstler sind gerade durch ihren Bezug zur Hauptstadt in ihren Genres erfolgreich?

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Christine Marek, Landesparteiobfrau Staatssekretärin. (OVP)

Das Stadtfest befasst sich in seiner “Leistungsschau” mit der spannenden Bandbreite des Wiener Schaffens. Da trifft die Wiener Lied-Tradition auf Jazz, prallt wilder Klezmer auf geballte Positivität beim Open Air Gospel. Hier entspannt beim Picknick im Burggarten, wer nachts zuvor am House-Clubbing getanzt hat, und die Jüngsten toben sich in der Kinderwelt aus. Und erstmals hält mit einigen der wichtigsten zeitgenössischen Autoren auch die Literatur Einzug beim größten Stadtfest Europas.

Ein buntes Wochenende lang voller Sprache, Sound und Bewegung geben wir die Antwort auf die Frage: Was ist Wien? Lassen Sie sich überraschen! (OVP)

Die kulturelle, sozialen, künstlerischen und sportlichen Aktivität wurde durch die österreichische ÖVP (Volkspartei) vom 28. bis zum 30. Mai am Michaelerplatz, in der Burg, am Heldenplatz, vor dem Kunst-historischen Museum, im Burggarten, der Reitschule und an andere Orten im Ersten Bezirk in Wien organisiert. Das schöne sonnige Wetter und die aufregenden Tätigkeiten haben mehrere zehntausende Familien und Tausende Touristen angezogen, die in Wien waren.

Die verschiedenen Shows bieten Programme, die am zweiten Tag des Festwochen am Samstag präsentiert wurden. Die genaue Koordination und Präsentation haben ein positives Image in den Meinungen der Zuschauer hinterlassen, die sie nicht vergessen werden.

Jeder wurde zu einem Fotografen. Männer und Frauen und Kinder und Touristen haben Bilder der schönen Shows mit ihren Kameras oder Handys gemacht.

Am Samstag habe ich mich zwischen den österreichischen Feiernden von einem Platz zum nächsten bewegt. Ich sah die Heiterkeit und Glück, die sich auf den Gesichtern von Müttern, Kindern, und Touristen ausbreitete. Ich sah die Kinder in einer Welt der Freude, Kunst und Kultur leben. Ich habe einige schöne Bilder gemacht. Ich habe mit Mitgliedern der ÖVP gesprochen. Sie waren sehr freundlich. Ich fragte sie, ob sie Interesse haben, mit einer Ausländischen Journalistin zu sprechen, sie haben mit Ja geantwortet.

Mein Gespräch war über Österreich und die Ausländer.

“Wien ist für die Österreicher und für alle Besucher, aber gibt es Ausnahmen zu den Tausenden, die gute Gründe haben, um in Wien zu leben und zu bleiben“, sagten die OVP Mitglieder“

Einer von ihnen zeigte auf die Sängerin Fatima. Er sagte: „Sie ist Türkisch, aber sie arbeitet, und wir respektieren sie. Sie belebt unsere Events, und sie singt in Englisch, Türkisch und Deutsch“.

by Kawther Salam

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Environmental and Human Well-Being

See more pictures.

28 May 2010 – Vienna – Kawther Salam – At the Vienna International Center (VIC), a group of experts on biodiversity and about 300 participants met to share and to discuss their experiences and analyses on the value of the diversity, “the value of biodiversity for tourism, farming, nature conservation and economy”, and to discuss practical solutions to beware and integrate diversity into every days life and into their work. The event was held to mark the World Environment Day and the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. It was organized by the Austrian NGO “Die Umweltberatung” (Eco Counseling Austria) in co-operation with the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna.

The event included two sessions, a morning session where all the experts and participants met, and the afternoon session in which the experts and the attendants were divided into three different workshops to share their experiences and discuss practical solutions. (Click of pictures to see them bigger).

The morning session was opened by Chairman Christian Mokricky from Eco Counseling Austria, who welcomed the diversity of partners ranging from businesses and environmental organizations to scientists and politicians, all joining forces to contribute and mark the World Environment Day. He explained that the Environment Day Talks were founded on World-Environment Day, 5 June 2009.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the united nations environment programme “UNEP” sent a video-message from Ruanda, and highlighted the fact that the loss of biodiversity does not only constitute an ecological but also an increasing economical risk, “Protection of the environment is also economic policy, and economic policy has to also be protection of the environment in the year 2010”. He added, particularly the combination of ecological wealth and its newly developed, groundbreaking environmental policy were reasons for selecting Ruanda as host country for this year’s global celebration of the World Environment Day. Steiner said: the slogan for this day is ‘Many Species, one Planet and one Future”. People should be sensibilized for the value of species and ecosystem. We as a community of people, nations and societies have the responsibility to preserve biodiversity and work together on this issue as a community of nations.

In a video message to the symposium the British primatologist, ethnologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace, Jane Goodall, well-known for her 45-year study of chimpanzee social and family interactions in Gombe Stream National Park “Tanzania”, called for action to stop biodiversity loss and prevent ecological systems from moving closer to a tipping point.

Keynote speaker Hans Friederich, IUCN Regional Director PAN/ EUROPE, referred to the interconnectedness of economy, environment and human well-being: “The world is grappling with economic and climatic uncertainty, and the consequences this may have for food and water security. Healthy biodiversity and ecosystems underpin the long term resilience of social and economic development. We can no longer ignore the fundamental role of biodiversity as a foundation of human well-being,” he said.

Andreas Beckmann, director of the Danube-Carpathian Programme of (WWF), pointed out the fact that biodiversity is the essential basis for our lives, our health and well-being, and last but not least, the bedrock of our economy. He warned the audience about the costs of loosing diversity. By 2050, ongoing losses in flora and fauna in Europe could cost us upwards of 1.1 trillion Euro per year. 2010 was supposed to be the year when the loss of biodiversity was halted; but its erosion continues relatively unabated.

Beckmann said “there is plenty of reason to care about biodiversity. It is our critical life support system, the essential basis for our lives, our health and well-being, and not least the bedrock of our economies. Besides essential products like food or medicine, biodiversity provides a variety of life support systems and ecosystem services, such as topsoil production, flood defenses and water regulation, but also cultural services such as recreation or aesthetic pleasure.”

Kristina Jahn, Manager for Sustainable Business Solutions at PricewaterhouseCoopers stated that the value of biodiversity in monetary terms and the global impact of biodiversity loss on the business sector in particular was examined by “The consequences of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation will not just affect primary industries with a direct reliance on natural resources such as extractives, forestry, farming and fishing but they will also affect the supply chains and growth objectives of the consumer goods industry and most of the other sectors in the developed and developing world,”.

She added: when it comes to integrating measures for the protection of biodiversity into the management systems of different industries and their decision making processes, the financial industry could play a key role. For example, banks could consider integrating biodiversity principles into their lending and investment policies”.

Professor Franz Wuketits from the University of Vienna’s Institute of Philosophy of Science posed the question about moral value of biodiversity. “It is not only biologists who are interested in the diversity of life on earth; this diversity is also a moral challenge …humans rely on the diversity of species. Therefore, species preservation actually has to be seen as preservation of humankind. This requires an ethics that critically reflects human actions with regard to other living beings. However, any moral system consisting of mere imperatives will not meet the requirements of a comprehensive ecological ethics. Of crucial importance is the recognition of other living beings as a moral duty for humans.

In the afternoon participants explored the issue of biodiversity at three parallel discussion forums on “Biodiversity and Economics”, “Biodiversity and Spatial Planning” and “Biodiversity and Tourism”. The results of the separate debates were shared in a closing panel discussion, outlining ideas to encourage efforts to reduce biodiversity loss. The participants were able to bring their own ideas, share their experiences and search for practical solutions.

Edgar Edrukaitis, coordinator of the business and Biodiversity Initiative, pointed out the fact that 60% of all ecosystems in the world, 21% of the mammals and 30% of the amphibians are endangered. He emphasized the value of “self-evident” natural service: Honey bees are important for honey production and pollination of ornamental plants and agricultural crops, this creats a value of 150 billions of US-$ per year. At the moment, there is a drop of honey bee-populations all over the world, 85% in USA, 30% in Japan and Switzerland. In this way, the global costs for the death of honey bees are hard to imagine!

Edrukaitis talked about the Initiative businesses take on leadership, he said: “under the auspices of the German CBD presidency and with the ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ Initiative founded in Bonn in 2008, the international community has for the first time an initiative from the private sector dedicated to biodiversity. As of yet, more than 40 companies from Germany, Japan, Brazil, Switzerland and South Africa have signed the Leadership Declaration. Companies have voluntarily joined the initiative, and in so doing agreed to integrate biodiversity protection and conservation into their business plans and management systems. What is more, their actions are leading to supplier sensitization about the topic of biodiversity and the publication of best practice examples”.

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Participants at the ENVIRONMENT DAY Talks 10 - Value of the DIVERSITY of Values - 28 May 2010, Vienna International Centre. Pic. Credit: Kawther Salam

Florian Nehm from Axel Springer AG told that his company procures about 350.000 rolls of recovered paper and fresh fibre from 50 different paper factories in about 15 countries a year. The corporate group wants to take care for the origin and recycling of papers furthermore and raise the involvement of stakeholders connected to wood, paper and recycling chain.

Biodiversity and Spatial Planning” was the issue of the workshop with Marianne Darbi and Ulrich Walz from Keibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development. They emphasized the importance of different types of landscapes and habitats for the survival of plants and animals, spatial planning has to give place and save biotope networks, habitat corridors and “hot spots” of high diversity to give a chance to the species. Human beings can profit with high-value areas for recreation for instance.

Ruth Moser, Coordinator of the Biosphere Reserve Großes Walsertal and Michael Getzner, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics the University of Klagenfurt analyzed the value of biodiversity for tourism. Sustainable tourism is not a threat to diversity; it can develop a better understanding for the value of nature and can create sustainable forms of business and new jobs. Some species seems to have a “great charisma” to a lot of people and are “flagship-species” for special landscapes like the Capricorn for Austrians Alps. Other species like Alectoris sp, a special type of chicken, are living in same habitat but seems to be less “sympathic” to most people. To know and to use these correlations is a challenge and a chance at the same time.

The event was ended by a joint session in which all experts, organizers and participants met again and ended their discussions. The session was moderated by Corinna Milborn, a journalist, author and presenter.
Milborn invited the heads of each workshop and asked them to summarize the results of their workshops and then opened the questions and comments session for the participants. Only three questions were raised before she asked for applause for the organizers of the event.

by Kawther Salam

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Israel Lost the Journalist Elections in Cadiz

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Israel lost, and Palestine and Iraq won the elections of the Executive Committee (advisors) of the International Federation of Journalists, which took place on Friday 28 May 2010 at the end of the World Congress of the IFJ, “Journalism in Touch with the Future” held in Cadiz, Spain.

The failure of Israel came as a result of them perpetrating horrific crimes against Palestinian journalists and the bad treatment which the foreign journalists receive at the hands of Daniel Seaman (Danny Seaman), the director of the Israeli government press office (GPO). The images of the murder of Palestinian journalist Fadel Shana, the cameraman for Reuters who was killed on April 16 2008 by an Israeli tank shell while he was in the performance of his journalistic duties in Gaza was mentioned during the IFJ World Congress and created huge anger against Israel.

During the IFJ Congress, Abed Al-Naser Al-Najjar, the PJS General Secretary, highlighted the demand to bring to trial before the International Court of Justice the criminal Israeli officials. His demand was met with huge sympathy and warmly applauded by the attendant delegations of journalists.

Al-Najjar commented on his winning the membership of the Executive Committee of the IFJ, saying that this will strengthen the relations with International journalists unions around the world and that it will help to expose the policies, procedures and the horrific crimes of the Israeli occupation against Palestinian journalists.

Al-Najjar credited the election victory of Palestine and Iraq as members of the Executive Committee of the IFJ primarily to the friendly efforts of the President of the Journalists Association in the UAE and the President of the Advisory Board of the Arab Group at the International Federation of Journalists, Mohammed Yusuf, who coordinated and mobilized support with the African journalists Group, the American Latin Group and the European Unions of Journalists.

He thanked expressed his gratitude to the deputy president of journalists Ibrahim Nafie, the president of the Federation of Arab Journalists for his efforts in which he raised the level of coordination between various Arab journalists unions, which allowed them to contribute towards this great result of a Palestine victory. Al-Najjar considered the victory of Palestine and the loss of Israel in the IFJ election during the World Congress in Spain as a success of the Palestinian journalist’s delegation and the exposition of the real face of Israeli crimes against the Palestinians and the Palestinian Journalists. He dedicated this victory to the martyrs among the Palestinian journalists, and especially to Fadel Shana, the victim of the Palestinian journalism of 2008.

Al-Najjar also thanked the Spanish government and the Spanish people for their support of the Palestinian people. It should be noted that the Spanish government has published on its official Facebook page a report which included the intervention of the Palestinian Journalists Delegation at the World Journalists Congress in Cadiz.

Congratulations from Vienna to the PJS: Dr. Tammam Kelani, President of the Union of Arab Doctors and Pharmacists in Austria; Monther Meriae, head of the Palestinian Community in Vienna; Palestinian Forum; Mostafa Abed Al-Hadi, deputy chief editor of Al-Ahram International; Mary Rizzo, Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective, Kawther Salam, Europe and Palestine News, Rense Web-News; Tuna Gusi, International Network of Journalists/ Catalonia and Spain, also congratulate the win of the Palestinian Journalists Union (PJS) in the elections of Executive Committee of the International Federation IFJ, and they wish them more success, and liberation from the Israeli occupation.

Here are the names of the elected members of the Executive Committee (advisors) of the International Federation of Journalists who were elected during the World Congress meeting in Cadiz, Spain.

• Zuliana Lainez Otero, Peru, ANP
• Khady Cisse, Senegal, SYNPICS
• Moaid Allami, Iraqi Union of Journalists
• Franco Siddi, Italy, FNSI
• Foster Dongozi, Zimbabwe-UJ
• Sabina Inderjit, IJU, India
• Omar Faruk Omar Osman, Somalia, NUSOJ
• Celso Augusto Schröder, Brazil-FENAJ
• Paco Audije, Spain, FSC-CCOO
• Jasmina Popovic, Croatia, CTU
• Abdelnasser Najjar, Palestine-PJS
• Eva Stabell, Norwegian Union of Journalists
• Gustave Azebaze, Cameroun, SNJC
• Thomas Carpenter, USA, AFTRA
• Chia Chang Yu, Taiwan-ATJ
• Christopher Warren, Australia-MA

The World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) , meeting in Cadiz, Spain, also elected members of the administrative Committee:

• Jim Boumelha, President, NUJ, Great Britain and Ireland
• Mjahed Younouss, Senior Vice President, SNPM, Morocco
• Gustavo Granero, Vice President, FATPREN, Argentine
• Olivier da Lage, Vice President, SNJ, France

by Kawther Salam

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A Letter for YOU

I received the letter below from Dr. Alex Awad, a professor and Priest at the Bethlehem Bible College in Jerusalem. I know Dr. Awad and his brother Dr. Bishara, the director of the college, personally. They are friends, or brothers, the people in Palestine closest close to me. The brothers Bishara and Alex Awad carry a message of peace and love for all human beings, the message of the King of peace, the prophet Jesus (peace and mercy be upon him). When the Awad brothers speak, they say the truth, the whole truth without adding or resting from it.

The message which Dr. Awad sent me yesterday about the family of Tony Nassar in Bethlehem tells the story of every Palestinian living in his own home and land in Palestine, the story of everybody living in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, the villages south of Hebron, north, south, east and west of Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, and in all Palestinian villages and towns in the occupied territories. It is a story of life under the rule of the military zionist Israeli occupation for more than 62 years. It suffices to be a Palestinian to live your days and nights accused and persecuted of all offenses, under unjust charges brought by the zionists of so called “Israel”.

Below is the letter of Dr. Alex Awad and Toney’s family.

Dear Friends,

Today, May 27, 2010, Tony Nassar, a former student of Bethlehem Bible College (his wife Nisreen is on our staff and a graduate of BBC) and a member of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, called me to inform me that the Israeli Military Authorities have come to his family’s lands (now called Tent of Nations) and accused the family of committing nine violations on the land. Tony also shared with me that the Israelis told his family that they will come this Sunday, May 30 to destroy the few structural developments that the family and volunteers, from around the world, have helped the family develop.

Tony’s family land has been coveted by Israeli settlers for many years. Most of the development has been underground and in caves. The family has been using the land for a camping and a for retreat center for international peacemakers. The land has been in the Nassar family before 1924 (at least 24 years before the creation of the State of Israel).

The Military Authorities are doing this to support the Jewish settlers in their bid to ethnically cleanse the land from its Palestinian inhabitants. The irony is, while Israel is violating international law in a big way by building huge illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a Palestinian is not allowed the most basic developments on his or her land if the land happens to be in a zone that is coveted by Jewish settlers.

I urge you to stand against this injustice. You can do so by sending emails, faxes and phone calls to the Israeli Embassy or Consulate in your country, State or City and send a message to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can get these numbers from the Internet.

You can also help by sending this email to your friends who care about peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. Let us tell the Israeli authorities that the Nassar family is not standing alone.

Alex

by Kawther Salam

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Demands of Trials for Journalist Murders

“All the Journalist Unions should move from statements of solidarity with the Palestinian journalists to real actions and measures, as going to the international courts to try the Israeli officials who are responsible for horrific crimes and murders of Palestinian Journalists” stated the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate “PJS” delegation during the World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists “IFJ” “Journalism in Touch with the Future” which was held in Cadiz in Spain on May 25 2010. (Click on the pictures to make them bigger).

The conference was opened by the Vice-President of the government of Spain, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, and attended nearly by 300 delegates representing reporting and editorial staff from over 100 countries.

The delegation of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate “PJS”, included General Secretary Abed Al-Nasser Al-Naggar, his vice Yousef Al-Ustath, and Nabhan Khreisheh, the chairman of the PJS foreign relations committee. They spoke about the murders, horrible crimes and daily problems which the Palestinian journalists face under the Israeli occupation.

The delegation highlighted during it’s intervention about Israel’s crimes and the intentional assassinations directed against Palestinian journalists. The delegation raised the image of the Palestinian journalist Fadel Shana, who was killed two years ago by an Israeli tank shell while he was in the performance of his journalistic duties.

The PJS demands were met with huge sympathy inside the conference hall. The attendants warmly applauded the delegation.

The IFJ Congress was held in Spain as it coincides with celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Cadiz and the adoption of the first freedom of press law in Spain, which was adopted in 1810.

The attendants of the congress were confronted with the full range of massive problems facing the media industry and journalists, including threats of death and violence, governmental interference, the crisis of confidence in traditional media and markets which are hit by the impact of the Internet, and growing demands from within the community of journalists for action to defend ethical and professional standards.

According to IFJ information published on their website, the Spanish deputy Prime Minister, Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, told the world’s largest group of journalist leaders meeting for the World Congress of the IFJ in Cadiz, that decisions to be taken about the future of media and journalism will have an impact on the future of democracy. She said: “”Whatever the future brings, the press will remain the pillar of democracy”. She told the attendants of the IFJ conference ”We are nearer to having an informed citizenry than never before thanks to media.”

Jim Boumelha, President of the IFJ, told delegates at the Congress that the IFJ represents a powerful voice for journalists and has grown into a global organization fit for journalism in the modern world. He said: “The IFJ has proved we can work globally and in unison in defense of journalists’ rights”; he added “the reaction to the unprecedented massacre of journalists in the Philippines and campaigns to defend journalists in Iran and the Gambia are cases in point.” He praised to the courage of journalists who are leading the fight back against attacks on press freedom around the world and said their voices needed to be heard.

Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, said that journalism is separating from media as the past role of publishers as radical social reformers is fading. He added: “Publishers of traditional news media are now systematically abandoning fundamental principles of independent journalism and are cutting jobs, stopping investigative journalism, ceasing training and adopting business models based on the opposite of ethical journalism. If publishers and media owners continue in this direction, they will forfeit their role as defenders of news freedom and lose the justification for a special place in society” warned the IFJ general secretary.

by Kawther Salam

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Energy and Climate Changes

See more photos here.

“The United Nations system has responded to the challenges and to the opportunities in the energy system with numerous programs and projects, the need for a strong and focused engagement is now clearer than ever before. It is unacceptable that that a third humanity has no access to modern energy services and half of humanity has no rely on traditional biomass for meeting their basic needs. Eliminating energy poverty is of paramount importance in eradicating poverty” said Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, head of UNIDO, Chair of UN-Energy and AGECC during a press event about the UN report „Energy and Climate Changes AGECC” which was jointly organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event took place last Wednesday, 19 May, in the Hofburg’s Kleiner Redoutensaal in Vienna and attended by many ambassadors, diplomats, and representative of international organizations. The conference was attended by journalists from the local and international media in Vienna.

The speakers at the press event were Austrian Foreign Minister Dr. Michael Spindelegger, the head of the UNIDO Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, the General Secretary of the Association of Austrian Electricity Companies Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer, the President of Suntech for the Europe region, Jerry Stokes, and Professor Nebojsa Nakicenovic, deputy director of the international institute for applied systems analysis (IIASA), director of the global energy assessment (GEA) and professor of energy economics at the Vienna University of Technology.

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The speekers at Energy and Climate Changes "AGECC" press conference.

The report, “Energy for a Sustainable Future”, prepared by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC), calls for expanding energy access to more than two billion people, and for scaling up efforts to increase energy efficiency and clean energy efforts to meet the climate challenge and realize the Millennium Development Goals.

Minister Spindelegger and Dr. Baumgartner-Gabitzer presented the Austrian vision, the key energy report, in Vienna. Spindelegger demanded to “expand Vienna into a competence center for renewable energy”. He stated: “Vienna, as the seat of major international energy organizations, and Austria with its comprehensive know-how in the area of renewable energy can make decisive contributions to this process. Vienna has established itself as a hub in an international energy network. I intend to make increasing use of this potential in the future in close partnership with UNIDO, the UN’s competence centre in the promotion of renewable energy“. (Click on pictures to see them bigger).

The UN demands that all people are allowed access to renewable energy sources by the year 2030, while reducing the worldwide energy intensity by 40 percent. Furthermore, the United Nations should make the issue of energy an institutional priority, by integrating and mainstreaming it into all relevant programmes, and by regularly reviewing the achievement of objectives in the area of energy access and energy efficiency. Another proposal is the establishment of a regular global dialogue on “Energy for sustainable development” and the strengthening of “UN Energy”.

by Kawther Salam

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