be just

Fox News allows guest to promote ‘holy war’ on Muslims | Raw Story : "The year has just begun, and already Fox News' Sean Hannity is telling the story of how Christians are being persecuted in the Arab world. Hannity observed that a holy war may be 'brewing' in the Middle East, as he reported on the New Year's Eve bombing of a Christian church in Egypt. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Azerbaijan: Hijab Ban in Schools Fuels Debate in Baku on Role of Islam | EurasiaNet.org : "Azerbaijan’s unofficial ban on Islamic head coverings for girls in public schools is stoking an increasingly emotional debate over how Azeri culture reconciles re-emerging Shi’ite Muslim beliefs with Soviet-era secularist practices. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Israeli pilot describes 'good strike' that killed 15 Gazans in 2002 - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News : "The airmen who bombed the home of a Hamas military leader in 2002 did not know or did not want to know the identity of their target before the strike, according to T., one of the crewmen directly involved, who spoke recently with students at a secular yeshiva in Tel Aviv. The July 22 bombing of the home of Salah Shehadeh, who had headed Hamas’ military wing, in the densely populated Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, killed a total of 15 people, including Shehadeh and his assistant. The other victims included eight children ‏(ranging in age from less than a year to 14 years old‏) and three women. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Wainwright: Taseer’s Assassination Lays Bare Contradictions in Pakistani Islam Taseer became a campaigner for Bibi and for reform of the blasphemy law, attracting approbation. Despite threats, he continued to be vocal on the issues he cared about, pointing to the way the blasphemy law is abused as a political tool against minorities and the vulnerable. In a recent interview he said , “This is a man-made law, not a God-made one.” Looking in to the historical origins of the blasphemy law is beyond the scope of this article, here we merely seek to identify the parameters of the debate.

The Tyranny of Defense Inc. - Magazine - The Atlantic : "“Every gun that is made,” Eisenhower told his listeners, “every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Any nation that pours its treasure into the purchase of armaments is spending more than mere money. “It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.” To emphasize the point, Eisenhower offered specifics: The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities … We pay for a single fighter with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Israel/ Palestine | Informed Comment : "The new, major war will be a total war on civilians, Ashkenazi boasted: “In the next war Israel cannot accept any restrictions on warfare in urban areas.” (I den neste krigen kan Israel ikke godta noen restriksjoner på krigføring i byområder in Norwegian, or let us just translate it into the original German: “Im nächsten Krieg kann Israel keine Beschränkungen der Kriegsführung in städtischen Gebieten akzeptieren.”.) Mind you, the civilian deaths deriving from this massive and unrestricted bombing campaign on targets in the midst of civilian urban populations will be “unintentional.” Planning to bomb civilian areas with foreknowledge that you will thereby kill large numbers of civilians is a war crime. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Sudan's president says he will accept referendum result - CNN.com : "(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says he will accept the results of a referendum this month that could see the country split in two. Al-Bashir said 'peace is our ultimate goal' with southern Sudan, which could become an independent state after the January 9 vote. He called on the government in the south to provide a safe environment for the referendum. - Sent using Google Toolbar"