Voices Against Poverty

The Palestinians under blockade in Gaza are calling upon the international community to intervene to end the blockade and collective punishment which is imposed on one million and a half persons since 2006 by israel. The Blockade is against international laws, treaties and accords. The Palestinians in Gaza are reminding the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations anti-poverty campaign that they must act to end the inhuman blockade of Gaza, and this not only in order to open the borders for humanitarian aid deliveries, but also to allow all Palestinians to live their life as human beings, what is being denied them by the criminal Israeli occupation and siege, and the silent complicity in this abject crime against humanity by the international community.

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Citizens’ Voices Against Poverty will be Heard Around the World

From 17 to 19 September, people across the globe will turn up the volume on their call for Heads of State gathering at the United Nations on 20-22 September to demonstrate leadership in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) .The United Nation information service in Vienna (UNISV) released that citizens will gather at events across continents to amplify their support for the eight MDGs, a set of targets to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes by 2015 that marks its tenth anniversary this week. They will be singing, chanting, blowing whistles, playing drums, blowing vuvuzelas, banging pots and pans and setting off alarm clocks. The sounds of these noises emanating from villages, towns and cities around the world as part of the three day mobilization “Stand Up, Take Action, Make Noise for the MDGs” will make citizens’ commitments to track and support their countries’ achievement of the Goals visible, vocal and impossible to ignore.

At a Teachers Forum hosted by UNIS Vienna in cooperation with the Vienna School Board and the Bratislava Region earlier this week, close to 60 teachers from Austria and Slovakia came together to prepare Stand Up events at their schools. The events that are being planned at schools in Vienna and the Bratislava region range from a primary school action art project, essays, graphic design and posters, to synchronized mobile phone ringing as well as an MDG march by the students. Providing for a learning experience on the MDGs for the participating school children and an exchange between them were important considerations besides contributing to the larger event.

“Stand Up” events being organized across the globe include the following:

• The Austrian non-governmental organization and platform for development and humanitarian aid “Global Responsibility” will organize a concert and jam session at the Vienna Museumsquartier on 17 September, featuring SambAttac and Oficina Art Vienna.
• Slovenia will have an International Model United Nations conference (SIMUN), where university students simulate the discussions on the MDGs in the United Nations. The programme includes a cultural and musical evening on 15 September, a bazaar on 16 September and a charity concert on 18 September as well as presentations by NGOs working in the fields of the MDGs. A round table on “Realization of the Millennium Development Goals: Between Fairy Tale And Reality”, organized by NGOs at the University of Ljubljana on 17 September will also be held as a Stand Up Against Poverty event.
• In Budapest/Hungary an event at the central plaza (Erzsébet tér) on 17 September at 5 pm will feature a reggae concert as well as a joint standing up and release of balloons.
• Manifold events are planned in the Bratislava region in Slovakia, among them an MDG march, awareness campaign by the graphic design school including posters and banners, T-shirt and sticker designs, flash mobs using the simultaneous ringing of cell phones, jingling of keys and screaming of the campaign claim will be in the city of Bratislava.
• Concerts across Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe, where local artists will sing their support of the MDGs.
• In Jordan, 40,000 children are expected to simultaneously blow whistles in support of the MDGs, in an attempt to set a new world record.
• In India, “Stand Up” will kick off with a film festival on 17 September.
• In New York City, Lincoln Plaza will be the hub of Stand Up activity on 19 September, with exhibitions on promises and progress to end poverty as well as speakers and performers.
• In Paris, French citizens and civil society organizations are organizing a flash mob and Stand Up moment in front of the Eiffel Tower on 18 September.
• In Washington, DC, citizens will come together with local musicians, drummers and bands just two blocks from the White House, to amplify their voices in support of the MDGs.
• “The Secretary General’s recent report on the Millennium Development Goals has made it clear that with only five years until the deadline by which world leaders have promised to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes, the active partnership of citizens and governments is more important than ever,” said Corinne Woods, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign.

Last year, more than 173 million people participated in “Stand Up,” setting a new Guinness World Record. “Stand Up and Take Action” is organized globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

“The Secretary General’s recent report on the Millennium Development Goals has made it clear that with only five years until the deadline by which world leaders have promised to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes, the active partnership of citizens and governments is more important than ever,” said Corinne Woods, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign. Last year, more than 173 million people participated in “Stand Up,” setting a new Guinness World Record. “Stand Up and Take Action” is organized globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP

by Kawther Salam

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Obscene Israeli Behavior Behind the Scenes at UN

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Aktham Suliman, the representative of al-Jazeera to the 54 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference in Vienna and the chief of the al-Jazeera bureau in Berlin, did not surprise me with his news reported from the IAEA press room in Vienna about being physically assaulted by the bodyguards of the Israel envoy while he was doing his work reporting from the conference on last Sept. 24 2010.

I was also subjected to repeated and deliberate insulting gestures and obscene words by the bodyguards of the israeli delegation to the IAEA. In my case the humiliations began on the evening of Sept. 22 and lasted until September 23, and only ended with the intervention of the UN security and after it became intolerable, was hindering my work and I could not keep silence anymore. (click on the pictures to make them bigger)

This is the first time I have seen “somebody” traveling as a diplomat but still violating the house rules at the UN which ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the people from many nations who work there to pursue their duties. The security staff at the UN appears to me to be very professional, they deal with all workers, diplomats, journalists and visitors with great respect. I was also very impressed by the objective manner in which they dealt with my case.

During the 54 IAEA General Conference, ONLY the conference itself was my interest, including the speeches of the representatives and photographing. I attended the conference as a representative of Rense Worldwide News Service which has about one million unique readers monthly. Most of diplomats attending the conference are known to journalists, and the journalists are known to them. Over time the same faces appear at conferences, meetings and special activities held in Vienna in various organizations, ministries etc.

Email of israeli representative on the right.

On Sep. 22 I called the attention of one of the Israeli representatives, who asked me politely if I was a photographer. I asked him if he would like to have copies of his photos. He said yes and wrote me his e-mail address on a piece of paper which he tore from a notice block. Other diplomats were sitting nearby during this exchange. My working principles dictate that I deal with everyone with respect and polity. But this appears not to be the case with the israelis. That day during the afternoon session I started noticing hateful looks which frightened me coming from the Israeli mission. I left the IAEA conference for the day to attend another one at the UN.

I returned to the IAEA conference on Sept. 23 during the morning. I acceded to the demands of some of the present diplomats and members of delegations in the audience who asked me to take photos of them. Some of them asked me to stay in the conference room and photograph them, others came out for a chat whenever they had a short break or asked me questions about my work and photos, etc. All was going well with my work, which was developing in a peaceful and cordial atmosphere.

When the voting on the various resolutions started, I followed the conference team with the ballot to capture some pictures while the delegations were depositing their votes. When I arrived near the Israeli mission, the bodyguards started to taunt me with gestures of mockery, one was turning his mouth right left, opening his mouth and showing me his teeth. When I went to make a picture of the Irish ambassador while voting, the Israeli representative stood up, smiled in my face and sat next to his bodyguard and told him something. I made a picture of him smiling but suddenly his bodyguard approached me and whispered insulting words in hebrew into my ear. I told him that this was improper and made a picture of him. I informed one of the ambassadors and also a security man from the UN who was present.

Later when I decided to leave for a break, I saw the israeli performing his mockery show for me doing deliberate stupid acrobatic gestures. On Sep. 24, the mockery and molestation continued without interruption. I avoided the area where the Israeli mission was, despite the presence of important diplomatic figures in the same area who I wanted to photograph.

When I followed the Palestinian ambassador to take a copy of his speech, the israeli bodyguard cut my way and cut insulting grimaces with clear intent to insult me. I asked him what he meant with his grimaces and crazy gestures. I then turned to the Palestinian Ambassador, I was unhappy and angry after two hours of deliberate provocations and stupid gestures. A UN security man wearing civil cloths intervened.

In the end the israeli was warned off. This had immediate effect. A new israeli delegation with another security crew arrived on 24 Sept. afternoon. They appeared to know about the incident and about me, and they kept their distance. I would like to thank the UN security for their high level of professionalism in dealing with this issue.

The questions are:

• Why are the israelis the only mission among over 180 countries which needs to bring ill-mannered bodyguards while the UN has a very professional security team doing their work in a responsible, peaceful and friendly way?
• When will israel understand that their irresponsible behavior and crimes only bring them a bad name and damages their reputation?
• Force and terror are not the right way to deal with the human beings.When will israel understand that at the UN and in civilized countries they can’t go on rampage like in occupied Palestine and that they should start thinking to learn to behave like a human beings instead of as occupiers?

by Kawther Salam

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James Bond or Israeli Thug?

Friday – July – 30 2010 – Vienna – Today, at 12:30 noon, a tall man knocked violently on my door. He did not knock at any other doors in the same floor. He continued knocking on my door in a very provocative way. The man had his his face turned away from the magic eye, so I could not see him. He was wearing a black suit, he had blond hair and a tall very muscular body. In a way he looked like the security man, one of those special forces who accompany politicians and VIPs.

After knocking several times, the man used a key to open my door, what worked without problems. It looks like he was a special guest who had a copy of my house key, but not from me. I asked him what he wanted before he finished opening my door, which was blocked from the inside to make entering more difficult for thieves and Israeli thugs.

“James Bond” replied in a silly way: “I want to enter you apartment to see your windows from the inside”. My cell phone rang during this silly conversation with “James Bond”. I let Mr. Bond talk with the person who called, what confused him even more. We called the police immediately. The Austrian police, two men and a woman, arrived about two minutes after the call, but Mr. “James Bond” had already disappeared from the scene. The owner of the building was outside, in the garden during the visit of Mr. “James Bond”. I asked him if he had sent somebody to check my apartment. He said no.

The questions which arise:

• Who was this unwelcome guest who knocked on my door and who had exactly the key of my apartment?
• Is he the real “James Bond” or the envoy of the Israeli special forces? I doubt that this was just a casual break-in attempt by a “special” thief because he had a fitting key to my apartment, and there are many other apartments which can be reached more easily in the facility.
• What bothers Israel so much about me and what do they want from me?
• Is their bad conscience so bad that after having taken everything from me they now have to send somebody to kill me?

This is not the first negative incident which happened to me in Austria, but it is the first time that “James Bond” stood at the entrance of my apartment with a special key in his filthy hands.

I had several troubling incidents in the past, I have received several death threats by the cowardly Israelis, but I am not scared. I will go ahead stronger and powerful. The voice of truth should never scare. The sun can never be covered with a blanket. But will my words and my journalistic work put an end to my life, or will my words win and the truth remain a poisoning dagger in the heart of Israel and all its thugs?

I doubt that these people will achieve anything by killing me, because there are many, many more people writing against them, people who in the meantime write much stronger articles and post videos and pictures about the crimes of Israel which are often stronger than what I have posted. The Israelis have now entered a logic in which everything they do has negative consequences for them. These consequences have until now been symbolic, but soon the negative repercussions of their crimes will become material, and there is nothing they can do about that. Their fall is not my work, but it is theirs alone. It is they who are scared like corralled rats, not me.

by Kawther Salam

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