January 2010 – Page 3 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Malaysian Churches Face Violence

Malaysian Churches Face Violence – Religious Groups Attacked Following Recent Court Ruling
— VOA quotes Voice of the Martyrs Todd Nettleton: “If there is no freedom to change your religion—to change from being a Muslim to being a Christian—then there really isn’t freedom of religion.”

Malaysia: Pig heads left at Malaysia mosques after Allah row

Pakistan: Violent Death of Girl in Pakistan Spurs Push for Justice

Pakistan: Violent Death of Girl in Pakistan Spurs Push for Justice
— Rare protest by family of tortured child puts spotlight on abuse of Christian working poor.

Pakistan: Violence against women increases by 27 percent: official

Pakistan: Violence against women increases by 27 pc: official

Afghanistan Taliban to be “bought off” with $500 million

Media reports on the efforts to counter ideas with money, rather than challenge extremist beliefs with our shared universal human rights:

Afghanistan: Taliban fighters to be ‘bought off’ with $500 million
— Afghanistan: Millions of dollars offered to wean away Taliban militants
— Trust fund for Taliban to quit fight
— Paying off the Taliban – Incentive or Bribe?
— Graphic showing billions of dollars of aid pledged
— CNN: “Your view: Negotiating with the Taliban”

Taliban reject peace talks
— In Advance of January 28 London Conference on Afghanistan, Senior Taliban Affairs Expert Rahimullah Yusufzai Says: ‘It Would Be Naïve to Assume That the Taliban Would Cut a Deal with the U.S…. On Terms More Favorable to Islamabad than to Their Leader Mullah Omar’
— Taliban issues statement on London conference

Meantime, while one part of the government seeks to give money to Taliban extremists another part seeks to stop their “financing”:

Afghanistan: US Tsy Cohen: Working To Cripple Taliban Financing
— WSJ: “Treasury is leading an inter-agency effort to develop new initiatives to disrupt financing for extremist groups operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said”
— U.S. Treasury targets Taliban cash funding

Afghanistan: Supporters of the Extremist Taliban

— October 8, 2009: Afghanistan: Media Reports US Willing To Accept Taliban, As General Calls for 40,000 Additional Troops

— September 24, 2009: Afghan women hiding for their lives

— August 31, 2009: Afghanistan: Taliban disfigure Muslims who dare to vote

— Afghan women victims of ‘widespread’ rape: UN

— New ‘poisoning’ hits 98 Afghan schoolgirls

— Afghanistan: Women Flee as Taliban Laws Return

— Afghanistan: extremist law “legalizing rape”

— Accountability and Defying Extremism

— October 17, 2008 – Violent Extemism and the “Reconciliation” with Extremism

Buffalo, New York: “Police probe cross found on front lawn” — “KKK” Etched in Wood

— Buffalo News reports: “Police probe cross found on front lawn”
— “South District police Monday were investigating possible racially motivated harassment on Edgewood Avenue where a resident found a wooden cross with the initials ‘KKK’ etched at its center on his front lawn.”
— “The cross was found on top of yard debris near the curb in front of his home, according to police reports. The resident reported the incident to police late Monday morning.”
— “Edgewood is located between Mc- Kinley Parkway and Abbott Road, about two blocks from Mercy Hospital.”
— “‘No one knows where it came from,’ said Michael J. DeGeorge, Buffalo police spokesman. ‘It does not appear the individual was threatened.’ ”
— “DeGeorge asked anyone with information to contact police on the confidential tipcall line at 847-2255”

— WIVB reports:
— “It was certainly a shock to see a cross in his front yard. The man, whose identity we are concealing, said he didn’t actually realize what it was at first. The man, from south Buffalo, tells News 4 he saw it laying in his yard a few days ago, but thought it was just scraps of wood. It wasn’t until this morning that he saw what it really was.”
— “‘I noticed that it was in the shape of a cross. So I picked it up and didn’t really realize what was written on the other side, but when I flipped it over I noticed it was a KKK symbol,’ said the victim”

Buffalo, NY - image of "KKK" cross in man's yard (Photo: WIVB Channel 4)

Video

Colorado: Nazi Group Reassigned New Area in “Adopt-A-Highway” Contract

Colorado: Nazi Group Reassigned New Area in “Adopt-A-Highway” Contract
— KUSA-TV reports: “Nazi group bumped from adopted highway by Baptists”
— “The Colorado Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday that due to an error in processing an Adopt-A-Highway contract, a Nazi group will not get to adopt the stretch of highway it initially wanted.”
— “CDOT took the full blame for a contractual processing error and apologized for the confusion, saying the Elmwood Baptist Church had already adopted the stretch of highway on US 85 from 144th Avenue to Bridge Street in Brighton.”
— “A spokesman for CDOT says transportation officials contacted both groups and were able to reach an ‘amicable resolution.’ ”
— “The National Socialist Movement group is now adopting a stretch of US 85 from Bridge Street to just south of 168th Avenue, according to CDOT.”

Nazi Camp Survivors Dwindle to a Few

The success and regrets of Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff

Gaza: Human Rights Watch rejects Hamas’ claims on rockets

Gaza: Human Rights Watch rejects Hamas’ claims on rockets
— BBC News: “Human Rights Watch has rejected claims by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that it did not target civilians during the war in Gaza a year ago.”

Hamas launched hundreds of rockets against Israeli towns (Photo: AP)

— “‘Hamas’ claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts,’ the New York based group said.”
— ” ‘Civilians were the target, deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime.’ ”

— “A UN-backed report accused both Hamas and Israel of committing war crimes.”
— “A former international war crimes prosecutor, South African Judge Richard Goldstone, investigated the offensive and said crimes had been committed on both sides.”
— “The UN General Assembly demanded that both sides launch independent investigations into their behaviour during the offensive, called Operation Cast Lead by the Israeli Defence Force.”