As those who have been following this blog.. all two of you, you would probably know that I considered Obama to be no different than McCain, now that he is the elected president and looking back on some things I'm now more worried than before about the whole Obama thing.
His stance towards many issues seems that they would cause more problems in the world if he did actually did what he said he'd do. Darfur for example, an issue extremely exaggerated by western media, to which Obama states and I quote "We cannot, in good conscience, stand by and let this genocide continue." What is he planning to do to stop this genocide. Is this really about Darfur, or is it only part of a bigger thing?
"The international community has failed to do enough. The United Nations passed a toothless resolution and, in recent debates, China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria have been reluctant to support any meaningful action. The UN is failing in its mission by allowing politics to get in the way of needed action. American leadership is needed to mobilize European support and force action. On the 10th anniversary of Rwandan atrocities, we must not let history repeat itself." - Obama
What is going to happen with the whole Nato-Russia-missile shield thing when Obama takes over the white house? Medvedev, the Russian president, ordered the deployment of nuclear-capable missiles on Nato's borders for the first time since the Cold War, what is the response of the US under Obama?
Where does Obama stand in relation to China? He earlier said that "China neither enemy nor friend, but a competitor" and accused China of currency manipulation, something the Bush administration didn't do. In regards to Darfur and Sudan, China has been investing a lot in there trying to increase oil production from Sudan to meet its rising demand for oil. How are the Chinese going to react when they see US and European forces in The Sudan?
Why does he insist on staying in Afghanistan but plans to reduce the number of US troops in Iraq and move them to Afghanistan?
What about Pakistan? Obama is for unilateral attacks into Pakistan targeting suspected AlQaeda members, undermining Pakistani Sovereignty by sending military into Pakistan with no prior agreement, something McCain opposed so did the Pakistani prime minister Gilani.
What about the appointment of Emanuel Rahm as chief of staff..?
So many things.. I'm just going to end it here, because I think this is enough. If anything happens in the future be sure that I will be telling everyone "I told you so!!!".. if nothing happens and it turns out that I'm concerned for nothing, then this is going to be embarrassing, but till then.. no one knows..
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
Egypt and the Gaza Siege
During the Arab league meeting at the foreign ministers level, Waleed Al Muallem, the Syrian Foreign Minister urged Egypt (Although he was generalizing and didn't say Egypt specifically but it's obvious that he meant Egypt since they are the mediators between Hamas and Fateh)to be neutral and not to take any sides. Amazingly enough this comment was faced with a very defensive stance from both the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Elgait,and other official sources in the Egyptian government.
Abu Elgait simply refused those 'allegations' whereas the other official source said AlMuallems comments are 'Non-sense and overbidding' and said that 'those comments should be directed towards Syria instead'.
But this is nothing compared to the following. In response to Waled AlMuallems comment "Arab states have a greater responsibility in stopping Israel from practicing its oppression on the Palestinian people as well as breaking the Siege on Gaza and opening up the crossings into the Gaza Strip" Abu Elgait said "the topic about the crossings into Gaza is governed by the 'Agreement on Crossings (European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah)' which states that the crossings are to be managed internationally between the EU, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority (Fateh) and that Egypt has no responsibilities in regards to allowing or not allowing Palestinians from going into Gaza through the Rafah crossing."
Here I wonder. If Israel is no longer in Gaza after their 2005 unilateral disengagement plan, and if the Palestinian Authority is no longer in control of Gaza or the crossing, and if the EU monitoring of the Rafah boarder crossing is also not present after they decided that the agreement is void since both Israel and the PA are no longer present in Gaza, who is in control of the Rafah crossing?.. No one except for Egypt, which makes the Egyptian Government Equally Responsible along with Israel for the Suffering of 1.5 million Humans in Gaza.
Abu Elgait simply refused those 'allegations' whereas the other official source said AlMuallems comments are 'Non-sense and overbidding' and said that 'those comments should be directed towards Syria instead'.
But this is nothing compared to the following. In response to Waled AlMuallems comment "Arab states have a greater responsibility in stopping Israel from practicing its oppression on the Palestinian people as well as breaking the Siege on Gaza and opening up the crossings into the Gaza Strip" Abu Elgait said "the topic about the crossings into Gaza is governed by the 'Agreement on Crossings (European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah)' which states that the crossings are to be managed internationally between the EU, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority (Fateh) and that Egypt has no responsibilities in regards to allowing or not allowing Palestinians from going into Gaza through the Rafah crossing."
Here I wonder. If Israel is no longer in Gaza after their 2005 unilateral disengagement plan, and if the Palestinian Authority is no longer in control of Gaza or the crossing, and if the EU monitoring of the Rafah boarder crossing is also not present after they decided that the agreement is void since both Israel and the PA are no longer present in Gaza, who is in control of the Rafah crossing?.. No one except for Egypt, which makes the Egyptian Government Equally Responsible along with Israel for the Suffering of 1.5 million Humans in Gaza.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Sustainable Development
Well well well.. uhmm.. its been ages since I last wrote anything here, but here I am back again, I know people missed me and stuff but life is tough, deal with it!
Anyways, sustainability, something I stumbled on I believe it was during April of this year when I first saw the youtube video of the Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi which I posted earlier on this blog. Since then my interest only grew and I am currently doing a postgraduate degree in this miracle called sustainability! But I really do think that everyone in the middle east should know something about this, not only is this concept beneficial but it is extremely important as developed countries are taking the concepts of sustainability and applying it to each and every development, every policy and regulations placing sustainable development as the focal point in the future development of those countries.
As a muslim, I find some concepts of sustainable development very familiar to what Islam teaches, sadly enough we have not taken advantage of what we already know.
The definition that is most widely used for sustainable development (SD) is the one given by the Brundtland 'Our Common Future' Report which defines SD as "meeting the needs of the present generation without comprimising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" concentrating on three main aspects which are Environmental, Social and Economical development. I'm not going to go into details with this just wanted this to be an introduction to this wonderful series that I have also stumbled upon; the e2 series, a series which gives different examples from across the world of sustainable design of different developments. I hope everyone watches these videos and tell your friends to watch them too. Enjoy!
Anyways, sustainability, something I stumbled on I believe it was during April of this year when I first saw the youtube video of the Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi which I posted earlier on this blog. Since then my interest only grew and I am currently doing a postgraduate degree in this miracle called sustainability! But I really do think that everyone in the middle east should know something about this, not only is this concept beneficial but it is extremely important as developed countries are taking the concepts of sustainability and applying it to each and every development, every policy and regulations placing sustainable development as the focal point in the future development of those countries.
As a muslim, I find some concepts of sustainable development very familiar to what Islam teaches, sadly enough we have not taken advantage of what we already know.
The definition that is most widely used for sustainable development (SD) is the one given by the Brundtland 'Our Common Future' Report which defines SD as "meeting the needs of the present generation without comprimising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" concentrating on three main aspects which are Environmental, Social and Economical development. I'm not going to go into details with this just wanted this to be an introduction to this wonderful series that I have also stumbled upon; the e2 series, a series which gives different examples from across the world of sustainable design of different developments. I hope everyone watches these videos and tell your friends to watch them too. Enjoy!
الذبابة والعصفور
لو كان هناك عصفور جميل يقف فوق شجرة ويغرد بصوت جميل ومر على هذا العصفور أشخاص من هذه الجنسيات, فماذا سيفعل كل منهم ؟
الفرنسي : يغني مع العصفور ويقلد صوته
الاسباني : يرقص على أنغام صوت العصفور
الايطالي :يرسم هذا العصفور على لوحة كبيرة
الهندي :يقوم بعبادة هذا العصفور وتقديسه
الصيني : يأكل هذا العصفور
الانكليزي : يطلق النارعليه
الياباني : يصنع عصفور الكتروني يماثل هذا العصفور بالشكل والحجم ويصنع جهاز لترديد نغمة هذا العصفور
اليهودي : يبدأ بالبكاء ثم يقوم بالمطالبة بملكية هذا العصفور باعتباره من نسل هدهد سليمان عليه السلام ويطالب جميع الأشخاص الذين مروا على هذا العصفور بدفع ثمن مشاهدة هذا العصفور
الامريكي : يصنع فيلم عن حياة هذا العصفور وعن جميع الأشخاص الذين مروا بهذا العصفور
المصري : يقلد الفيلم الأمريكي ويقوم أحمد السقا بتمثيل دور جميع الأشخاص الذين مروا على هذا العصفور
السوري : ينتج مسلسلا عن عن العصفور وقصة أجداده ( العصفور القديم ) حتى الآن ويقوم بوضع إسقاطات تاريخية وسياسية على حياة هذا العصفور العربي وتاريخه ونضاله القومي . . . ويقوم بإخراج المسلسل نجدت إسماعيل أنزور بعد أن يملأ أجنحة العصفور بالشراشف حتى يعجز عن الطيران..
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