New Media

Salman Rushdie on Amnesty’s poisonous relationship with Islamofascists:

Amnesty International has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns.

Read the complete statement here.

This is why I have recently ended my monthly donations to Amnesty’s organization. I will continue to write letters in support of political prisoners and human rights, but I will not fund an organization whose executive seems to have lost its way.

H/T to Harry’s Place

A 16-cannon broadside against those who would use cultural relativism to undermine support for international efforts to defend human rights, in the Mark.

In matters of social justice – climate change, health-care reform, child protection – we usually, rightfully, start by accusing our governments of a lack of will, of inaction, of breaking promises. We can also place blame on the media, on the stories and causes it values and doesn’t value. But in this case, in the case of the systemic oppression of women in other countries and cultures, we, the public, have only ourselves to blame.

This rally by Toronto’s Pashtun community is an encouraging and inspiring effort by friends of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee and supporters of human rights in Afghanistan:

TORONTO – Pashtun-Canadians of Pakistan and Afghanistan origin are organizing an anti-Taliban rally to protest the ongoing massacre of Pashtun people in Northern Pakistan by the Taliban. In our first ever anti-Taliban rally in Canada we are protesting outside Queen’s Park to highlight the unreported “Genocide of 52 million Pashtuns” by the Taliban and militants.

The once peaceful and serene Swat Valley in northern Pakistan has now being transformed into another Afghanistan by the Taliban. While hundreds of innocent people have been beheaded and butchered, 300 educational institutions have been bombed and destroyed, people on ground perceive that the Pakistan ISI/military is supporting Taliban because of the infectivity of the operation and intentionally fanning extremist religious thought in the region. Out of the 1.7 million local population about 700,000 people have already forced to migrate to other areas by the war.

We want to educate and apprise fellow Canadians, the Canadian media and journalists of this unreported genocide by the Taliban, who are massacring Pashtuns in the name of Islam. We are urging Canadian newspapers and TV networks to send photographers, videographers and reporters to talk to hundreds of Pashtun women, children and men whose family members are being killed in Pakistan’s Pashtun areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Date: Sunday February 15, 2009 Time: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Ontario Legislative Building , Queen’s Park, Toronto.

For information call Inayat Khan Kakar (905) 277 2854 – (647) 895-6566
Canadian Pashtun Community 315 Elgin St N, Cambridge, ON, N1R 8C9

Either a full 60 per cent of Canadians really do hate brown people, or the president of the Canadian Islamic Congress owes Canada’s Prime Minister an immediate apology (Read Who’s Really Playing Politics With Omar Khadr, Mr. Elmasry?).

An Ipsos Reid poll result released today shows that a video released by supporters of the alleged grenade tossing son of Al Queda, Omar Khadr, has done nothing to change Canadians minds about his detention in Gitmo (National Post). NP stringer James Cowan writes:

The results also demonstrate public support for Stephen Harper’s decision not to intervene in the case. Overall, 60% of people said they believe Mr. Khadr should remain in U. S. custody, while 40% said he should be immediately returned to Canada. “The Prime Minister has echoed the sentiments of the country,” Mr. Wright said. “His position on this is pretty sound and opinion is pretty firm.”

That actually puts me in a minority, since I stated in my last post that Khadr ought to be sent to Canada to face trial. Can’t say I’m all that disappointed in the majority of Canadians who likely made the calculation that Omar Khadr, his family and their supporters may represent a dire security threat to the nation — and that should outweigh any other considerations.

Perhaps the majority is right after all about the downside of repatriating Khadr to Canada. I’m still not convinced. But I’m open to arguments.

“The trial of a criminal is against human rights. Human rights demand that we should have killed them in the first place when it became known they were criminals.”

Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since the leader of a country could get away with saying something like that. Then again, maybe we haven’t.

I got a reminder from Amnesty International today about Human Rights Day. Very timely. Take action now.