공지사항
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- '노란봉투'캠페인/국제연대..
- no chr.!
460개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
2006 FIFA WORLD CUP
DIE WELT ZU GAST BEI FREUNDEN
Before yesterday, 6.22, one of the main German bourgeois magazines, Der Spiegel, published the following article about the current situation, regarding the dramatic danger of racistic attacks in Germany..
Neo-Nazi Violence on the Rise in Germany
With the World Cup just a few weeks away, stories about neo-Nazi violence in Germany are suddenly everywhere. On Monday, new figures suggest that far-right crime in the country is on the rise -- much of it in former East Germany.
Right-wing extremism is on the rise in Germany.
It's hardly the issue that Germany wanted to see in the headlines during the last few weeks before the World Cup kicks off in Munich on June 9. But stories on neo-Nazi violence, suddenly, are everywhere. On Monday, new figures showing a rise in right-wing violence in 2005 poured fuel on the fire.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Monday he was very worried about the steep rise in far-right crime and appealed to Germans never to look the other way when they see someone being attacked. "There mustn't be any no-go areas in Germany," he told a news conference at which he presented the 2005 report of the domestic intelligence service, the Bundesverfassungsschutz.
Schäuble said he wanted to expand police presence to deter attacks on foreigners and immigrants and said the authorities were determined to stamp out far-right violence. "That is why people can feel safe in our country," he said.
Racially motivated crime rose in 2005
The intelligence report showed that the number of racially motivated acts of far-right violence rose by 23 percent to 958 last year while the number of far-right extremists deemed willing to engage in violence rose by 400 to 10,400.
Of the acts of violence in 2005, 816 involved bodily harm, up from 640 in 2004. The number of attempted killings fell to two from six. Arson attacks, too, fell to 14 from 37.
The total number of politically motivated right-wing crimes, though, rose 27 percent to 15,361, most of which related to far-right propaganda such as displaying the Nazi swastika, which is against the law in Germany.
Schäuble said one reason for the rise in violence could be the increase in demonstrations by far-right groups, which in turn provoked counter-demonstrations by left-wing groups.
The report's findings coincide with a debate about remarks last week by a former government spokesman who advised dark-skinned visitors to Germany to avoid eastern parts of the country such as Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin.
"There are small and medium-sized towns in Brandenburg, as well as elsewhere, which I would advise a visitor of another skin colour to avoid going to," said Uwe-Karsten Heye, who now leads an anti-racism organization called "Show Your Color." "It is possible he wouldn't get out alive."
Heye has a point -- according to regional intelligence reports, the risk of falling victim to a far-right attack is almost 10 times higher in Brandenburg than it is in the western state of Hesse, for example. In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, the risk is 12 times greater than in Hesse.
But several politicians have warned that Heye's comments could backfire because he has effectively acknowledged that neo-Nazis are succeeding with their strategy to create "foreigner-free zones".
Is the far-right winning?
Wolfgang Wiegand, a member of the opposition Greens party, said right-wing extremists may interpret Heye's remarks as meaning "they have won." Wolfgang Thierse, an eastern German member of parliament, said "stigmatizing" a whole region of Germany would discourage local citizens from tackling the far right.
Heye's remarks were prompted by recent racist attacks that have hurt Germany's bid to project a cosmopolitan image for the World Cup. In the latest incident on Friday night, a German politician of Turkish origin -- who is a member of the Berlin local assembly -- was hit over the head with a bottle by two unknown assailants in Berlin's eastern Lichtenberg district.
Giyasettin Sayan, 56, immigration spokesman for the Left Party, is being treated in hospital for a concussion. He told local television that one of the attackers said "You Turkish shit, we'll get you."
Meanwhile, neo-Nazis have been using the Internet to call for a demonstration on June 21 in Leipzig ahead of the World Cup match being played there between Iran and Angola. Their aim is to support Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has described the Holocaust as a "lie" and wants Israel to be wiped off the map.
The Union of Police Officers has appealed to courts to forbid all demonstrations near World Cup stadiums during the tournament. "During the World Cup the police won't have the manpower to secure such events," said the union's chairman, Konrad Freiberg.
Labor Minister Franz Müntefering called for anti-Nazi demonstrations, saying: "We will make unmistakably clear that no one in Germany needs to be afraid because he has a different skin color or a different name or a different origin."
And the Guardian, GB, reported this, also before yesterday..
Fears for safety of black fans increase after attack
There were fresh fears yesterday over the safety of black and Asian fans who travel to next month's World Cup finals, after a Turkish-born politician became the latest victim in Germany of a race attack. The Berlin MP Giyasettin Sayan was yesterday recovering in hospital after two youths attacked him with a bottle, shouting: "Shit foreigner."..
Please read the entire article here..
http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1780368,00.html
IHT wrote this 6.22..
Racial attack on politician angers Germans
...but not all Germans are angry about such developments. Later this week more about it...
2006 FIFA WORLD CUP
DIE WELT ZU GAST BEI FREUNDEN
..the English motto, according to FIFA
.. A TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS..
Yesterday TAZ, a German newspaper headlined, after several fascist attacks against mainly foreigners or non.white germans in the last weeks..
DIE WELT ZU GAST BEI NAZIS.. THE WORLD TO GUEST WITH NAZIS..
More about the issue... in the next days. I promise that!!
A short introduction about the issue of neo fascism you can read, see here..
Racist pogrom in .. Germany
http://base21.jinbo.net/christian/020913.html
The HK based magazine Asia Times is writing today about the latest developments in Nepal..
Nepal wakes up with a headache
Fears over a powerful monarchy backed by an army appear to have been allayed, but the people of Nepal are unlikely to find their homeland a safe and peaceful country until they can persuade the Maoists insurgents to lay down their weapons for good.
May 18 was a red-letter day for Nepalis. The country's parliament, the 205-member House of Representatives, took the drastic step of turning the monarchy, which until April 24 was alive in its absolute form, into a virtually redundant institution.
A nine-point declaration, adopted without a single dissenting voice, effectively raised the status of Nepalis from that of king's subjects to proud citizens of the country to which they belong. The tag "His Majesty's government" has been removed in favor of
a simple expression - the government of Nepal. What has traditionally been known as the "Royal Nepal Army" was directed to drop the word "royal" so that a sense of belonging could be promoted among servicemen and women.
The army leadership has also been formally told that the Nepali Army will be placed under a civilian government elected through parliament. The house also assumed the responsibility of making laws relating to succession to the throne, a privilege previously assigned to the reigning monarch.
Ironically, the lawmaking body, revived by King Gyanendra himself in the wake of a popular April movement, stripped most of his powers, positions and privileges. The only solace to him and his heir apparent, Paras, is that parliament has stopped short of abolishing the institution of the monarchy itself, for the time being at least.
But, if the present level of anti-king sentiment persists, the monarchy could be a part of history within years. A new constitution, to be drawn by an elected constituent assembly, might not leave any role for a traditional institution which looks anachronistic at the start of 21st century. Besides, brutal repression and atrocities the royal regime has unleashed on the people since October 2002 are too recent to be forgotten.
The Maoist leadership believes - and claims - that the pro-democracy protests, formally launched by an alliance of seven political parties, picked up momentum from the active support of their unarmed workers in the field. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, issued a statement saying that while his party welcomed most of the initiatives taken by the parliament, they were inadequate.
In his opinion, there was no need to retain the monarchy, even in its ceremonial form. Since the country was already on the threshold of a republican setup, the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) should have had the courage to declare Nepal a republic.
"Yes, it has been an inadequate step," said Madan Regmi, a political analyst, supporting the argument of the top Maoist leader.
In fact, the Maoists are unhappy with SPA leaders because they think the Maoists are not getting the credit they deserve. "Now they want to marginalize us, they want to bypass us, and they want to minimize the role of the Maoist movement," the New York Times quoted Prachanda as saying. The paper on Sunday said the top Maoist leader was interviewed on Friday night in an Indian city that he insisted remain unidentified.
Two young Maoist leaders who recently defected from the group publicly asserted that Prachanda and another of his senior comrades had spent eight of the 10 years of insurgency in India. Posters have appeared in Kathmandu indicating that top Maoist leaders would appear in a public meeting scheduled for June 2. Ostensibly, the rebel leaders are getting ready to make their first public appearance in the capital.
The alliance of seven parties is being constantly reminded of the 12-point understanding it reached with the Maoists in November. The Maoists want that understanding, which was subsequently renewed, to be honored and implemented speedily. The rebel leaders announced a ceasefire and formed a three-member team to conduct preliminary talks in preparation for a higher-level parley at a later stage.
For its part, the government consisting of SPA representatives also declared a ceasefire, lifted the "terrorist" tag from the Maoist leaders and began withdrawing criminal cases against them from the courts, and made public announcements that a three-member negotiation team would be headed by Home Minister Krishna Sitaula.
A matter of trust
But the level of trust needed to carry forward the agenda is not there on either side. The main objective is to reach an agreement on elections for a constituent assembly, which would write a new constitution, replacing the existing one promulgated in 1990.
For that, the Maoists want an early dissolution of the present parliament, together with the formation of an interim government with representation from the Maoist camp. One Maoist leader, Matirka Yadav, has gone to the extent of demanding that a Maoist leader should be given the chance to head the interim government, which would oversee elections for the constituent assembly.
From the Maoist standpoint, the present parliament as well as the government derive legitimacy from an old constitution and old format which is not acceptable to the people committed to form a new Nepal. They are also rejecting suggestions that they abandon their weapons in the runup to the polls for the constituent assembly.
The Maoist leadership also remains ambivalent about demands from human-rights groups that those involved in cases pertaining to human-rights violations should be punished.
While the Nepalese military has been accused of human-rights violations, the Maoists have also used brutal methods, such as killing teachers in front of their students and cutting off the hands and legs of villagers who expressed the inability to give them food or shelter.
There have been numerous incidents of abductions, recruitment of underage children for the Maoist militia and extortion of money as donations to finance the armed rebellion. More than 13,000 lives have been lost in the 10 years since the rebellion began.
However, leaders belonging to the SPA are clearly against the idea of dissolving parliament, an assembly which increased its power through Thursday's declaration. The oft-repeated contention is that the present parliament (elected in 1999 for five years but dissolved prematurely by the king in 2002, and revived on April 24 this year) should be kept alive until the plan to elect a constituent assembly materializes.
They think conservative and regressive elements could raise their heads if there were an absence of an institution representing the people's collective will. The rebel camp does not appear to buy such arguments. The Maoist demand is that the commitment to the constituent assembly should be unconditional, but the SPA and other pro-democracy groups insist that the Maoists must make a pre-poll pledge to engage in competitive politics, and not revive their plan to set up one-party authoritarian communist rule.
Suspicion over the Maoists has persisted because of the breakdown of peace talks twice since 2001. The SPA is also concerned by the fact that Maoist guerrillas have not stopped extortions, reports on which are coming from across the country.
Kathmandu-based Western diplomats, who in the past supported the Maoist decision to join the political mainstream, have begun to express their worries. "Is this an indication of the leadership losing grip among its cadre?" wondered a diplomat, reflecting a view of the European Union.
One US official, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, repeated his country's perception of Nepali Maoists when he spoke to a Senate committee in Washington on May 18, "We and many in Nepal and in the international community remain wary of Maoist intentions."
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who heads the Nepali Congress, and the six other party leaders are often accused of entering into an understanding with an extremist - and unpredictable - group. Accommodating the Maoists was a monumental mistake, intellectuals in the non-leftist camp observe.
But others disagree, and say that efforts to bring a militant group into the mainstream must not be seen as a mistake. If it is a mistake, they argue, it was made because of the king's arrogance, direct rule and his concomitant actions to sideline the legitimate political forces for several months.
It was also a failure on the part of Western powers, particularly the US, which could not persuade King Gyanendra to fulfill the SPA demand for the restoration of the democratic process before they were forced to join hands with the Maoists through the 12-point understanding. The US had wanted the king and political parties to work together, but what happened eventually was that the political parties and the Maoists decided to act together against the monarchy.
Some political analysts also say that it was remiss of the US not to exert timely pressure on India, which is being described as a strategic partner, to stop Nepali Maoists from using Indian territory to carry out and expand their activities.
The US could have drawn New Delhi's attention to the fact that if not checked, armed insurgencies could spread and destabilize other parts of South Asia, including India itself. The Maoists initially used to criticize both India and the US, the former for being expansionist and the latter for acting as an imperialist force. Now they have ceased to rebuke India; their hatred is focused only on the Americans.
On May 16, the European Parliament moved a resolution on Nepal, calling the international community to establish a contact group, to be made up of Nepal's key partners and international organizations, such as the EU, the US, India and the United Nations. The resolution also proposed the appointment of a special rapporteur to monitor the situation.
The Maoists, too, have a commitment to leave their armed fighters under UN supervision pending elections. However, the Americans view the situation differently. As was evident in Boucher's statement in the senate committee on May 18, the US continues to think that among Nepal's partners "India has a key role to play". While there is an element of truth in that because of geographical proximity (with an unregulated border) and cultural similarities, it is unrealistic to conclude that India alone could resolve the issues at hand.
Indeed, Maoist leaders have said time and again that they are prepared to work with the UN or any other neutral organization with international standing with regard to laying down arms in the period leading up to the elections for a constituent assembly.
While both China and India, Nepal's neighbors to the north and south, respectively, might find it wise to keep the US away from their doorstep, the two are unlikely to jointly work to help Nepal get out of the present mess.
So if New Delhi and Beijing cannot work in tandem on Nepal, they cannot oppose the involvement of an organization like the UN.
...BY JEWS..
Yesterday.s Yedioth Achronoth reported this stupid bullshit...
35 Jews volunteered for suicide attacks
An Iranian terror leader who said on Sunday that he planned to send suicide bombers to Israel via Britain claims 35 Jews also volunteered for attack
Thirty five Jews volunteered to carry out suicide attacks against Israel in the service of an Islamic terrorist organization, claimed the head of an Iranian terrorist organization, "The Committee for the Commemoration of the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign."
Members of the organization said that they planned to send the terrorists to Israel via Britain.
The Mahar news agency reported that the terror chief, Faruz Rajai-Far, told a Teheran conference that the organization's website registered 55,000 volunteers from all over the world to carry out suicide bombings. The volunteers, he claimed, included 35 Jews who don't live in Iran, as well as a number of Christians and other citizens. At the same time, the organization's website has been taken down, and cannot be viewed.
'New unit of bombers'
The conference heard about the establishment of a new unit of suicide bombers named after "the martyr Nader Mahdui," who committed suicide on a U.S. navy ship in the Persian Gulf. Reports on fundraising to support Palestinians were also heard.
An Iranian news website said during the weekend that the organization began enlisting new members in the Bushar region in Iran, where Iranians are building a nuclear core with the aid of Russian experts. The aim of the recruitment drive was, according to Rajai-Far, to set up a brigade of suicide bombers who will be named "the Brigade of Suicide Bombers Brigade for the Defense of the Atomic Core of Bushar."
The organization, set up two years ago, has 52,000 members – three percent of whom are women. The members undergo military training, urban warfare training, and the use of weapons. In recent days hundreds of volunteers signed forms to join the organization.
They were asked if they would prefer to carry out attacks against "the occupiers of Jerusalem, (Israel) the dissident author Salman Rushdie, or against occupiers of Muslim countries (the U.S. and Britain).
The organization claims it works independently, but it in fact receives support from the Iranian regime. Searches for new recruits are carried out mainly in Britain, due to the belief that it is relatively easy to enter Israel with a British passport.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3253812,00.html
Once again... do not believe nobody!!! Especially not the media of the ruling class!!
CPN-UML: Democratic republic, our main objective
eKantipur wrote yesterday, 5.21..
Senior CPN-UML leaders said Sunday that their party's main objective is to establish a democratic republic through constituent assembly elections.
They argued that it was essential to establish a democratic republic even though some important achievements have already been made through the parliamentary proclamation.
Speaking at a programme in the capital, the leaders today said that the people's decision would reign supreme.
"We have only made the king powerless, the constituent assembly elections will decide on whether to keep or remove the king," said UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal.
He added that the king should accept whatever decision the people make.
K.P. Sharma Oli, who represents UML in the present multi-party government, expressed his commitment to deliver his party's future policies.
"CPN-UML, by remaining in the government this time will not commit any activities that would shame us," Oli claimed.
Speaking on the same occasion, another leader Bam Dev Gautam said that a new eigh-party alliance which includes the Maoists has to be formed.
He also added that the movement should continue until the stated target is reached.
"If we don’t go for a democratic republic, we will lose all the achievements that we have now gained," Gautam said.
On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Oli and UML General Secretary Nepal criticized the Maoists for continuing alleged extortion activities.
Nepal also said that until an alternative people's representative body is formed, the House of Representatives would continue to function.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=74312
As I know, this is the main goal of the majority of the Nepalese people!!
Also yesterday IHT, NYT published following stuff..
Maoist force in Nepal refusing to disarm
The voluble chief of Maoist guerrillas in Nepal has rejected the notion that his troops will disarm before elections, as many insurgent armies have done across the world. He demanded instead that his troops be sequestered and kept under international supervision, but only if the Royal Nepalese Army agreed to the same treatment.
"We are not exactly an armed group like in other places in the current world," the leader, known as Prachanda, or the fierce one, said in an interview Friday.
"How can you think we are only a small rebel group and the RNA is legal and legitimate?" he said referring to the army.
His comments, made in a wide-ranging interview in an Indian city that he insisted remain unidentified, signaled one of the central challenges facing the peace process in Nepal: how to carry out credible elections to redraft the country's Constitution, as the new government has promised, without compelling the rebels to put down their guns.
But Prachanda's comments also hinted at a deeper, less tangible concern: Less than a month after helping to dislodge King Gyanendra's royal government, the Maoists, it seems, are worried about being slighted or sidelined in the new political landscape.
That landscape is nothing that this country has seen before. In late April, faced with three weeks of debilitating street protests started by the principal Nepalese political parties and backed by Prachanda's organization, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Gyanendra ceded control of the state to an interim government.
That government in turn ordered the arrests of five of the king's most prominent former cabinet ministers and recently approved a far-reaching measure to diminish his power. The government declared Nepal a secular nation, stripped the king of his authority over the military and excised references to "His Majesty's Government" from government institutions.
On the face of it, these are important victories for the Maoists, who for the last 10 years have been fighting for the creation of a secular, republican Nepal and an army answerable to an elected government. And yet the Maoist leaders are complaining of being left out of the process, and - cranky as it may sound from the underground leader of a feared revolutionary army - of not getting the credit they deserve. Clearly, a deep distrust still lingers.
"Now they want to marginalize us, to bypass us, and they want to minimize the role of the Maoist movement," Prachanda said of the politicians. "That's why we are seriously concerned."
The Maoists can hardly argue with the substance of what the politicians have done; indeed, the measures seem to have been lifted straight out of the Maoist playbook.
Their problem is with the process. The interim government, Prachanda said, should have immediately begun negotiations with the Maoists, dissolved the old Parliament, and assembled a new national body that would in turn organize elections for the drafting of a new constitution. Whether the apparently procedural dispute will bog down efforts at real reconciliation between the government and the rebels remains uncertain.
Prachanda said the negotiating team he planned to lead is ready to start immediately.
According to a Reuters report from Katmandu, the capital, the government Saturday named the leader of its negotiating team, the home minister in the new government, Krishna Prasad Sitauli. No dates for talks have been announced yet. They would be the first such negotiations in three years. Prachanda said he wanted the United Nations or a team of independent third- country officials to broker the talks.
Prachanda, 52, a former agricultural sciences teacher whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, called the measures to restrict the king's powers "a partial victory," expressed skepticism about the intentions of the interim government, and wondered aloud whether the new leaders were reacting to foreign pressure to distance themselves from the Maoists.
He also delineated what he said were his bottom-line demands for a new Nepal: a federal structure that offers greater rights to ethnic minorities, a new constitution that scraps the monarchy, and "revolutionary land reform" along the lines of Mao's principle of "land to the tiller." The last of those demands is sure to invite significant resistance from the Nepalese political and economic elite.
Prachanda's revolution began in 1996, two years after his breakaway Communist faction was denied a chance to run candidates for elective office. Ten years and 13,000 deaths later, the Maoists say they no longer seek to establish a one- party state. In a radical turn, they have linked arms with the politicians in Parliament they once hunted down without mercy.
They say they have accepted the principle of a multiparty democracy. They say they will accept the verdict of Nepalese voters on whether the nation should remain a constitutional monarchy.
Whether they will keep their promises remains a dangerous gamble for Nepal.
It is on the question of disarmament that Prachanda has thrown down the gauntlet. So long as the army is not disarmed before elections, his People's Liberation Army would remain as it is.
Ultimately, he said, a new national army would have to be cobbled together. The current army, he said, cannot be trusted not to interfere in the voting for a new constitution.
Elsewhere around the world, there have been instances of insurgent groups refusing to disarm before elections. They have left a mixed record. In East Timor, ethnic rebels, who were not nearly as militarily powerful as the Nepalese Maoists, retained their weapons through the referendum of 1999. In Angola, Unita rebels refused to be disarmed before elections in 1992. When they lost at the polls, one of the bloodiest chapters of the Angolan war began.
"We want to show a new example from Nepal," Prachanda insisted. "What is the reason for not trusting us?
"We are not the problem for the country and for democracy," he added.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/21/news/nepal.php
Btw.. please remember that IHT, NYT... are, of course, also parts of the ruling class..
Aeh... eKantipur.. is the same..
DO NOT BELIEVE NO ONE OF THE RULERS!!
..but let.s see what will bring the future!
The Israeli Yedioth Achronoth, Ynet, reported yesterday following about the stupid thing I uploaded about 24 hours ago..
Iran: Yellow badge report false
Iranian lawmakers hurried to disavow a report that the Muslim country would enforce a dress code requiring Jews to where a yellow armband; Iranian Jewish MP: The report damaged Jewish image in Iran
Iranian officials adamantly denied on Saturday reports claiming that the Muslim state was passing a law that would require minority members to identify themselves with various colored armbands – and, reminiscent of the Holocaust, Jews would be forced to wear yellow badges.
Iranian expatriates claim that ‘National Uniform Law’ authorized by Iranian parliament includes clause obligating Iranian Jews to wear yellow ribbon; Christians, other minority members to wear colored ribbons as well. ‘If law passes non-Muslims’ lives will become intolerable
“The dress code program being discussed in parliament has no relation to religious minorities. These reports are a flat out lie,” says Iranian lawmaker Imad Efrog, who proposed the “National Uniform Law.”
On Friday the Canadian Newspaper National Post reported that Jews would have to wear yellow armbands, based on the claims of Iranian expatriates living in Canada. Shortly after the article was printed, the newspaper backed off from the report and published a second article expressing reservations about the report’s credibility. However, the flames were already ignited as the story quickly spread around world news media.
Efrog, who apparently also read Israel and the world’s heated reactions to the report, told Canadian newspaper The Calgary Sun Saturday to tell the west to check their information on the law first, “and you will see there are no conditions for religious minorities in Iran.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, Hormoz Ghahremani, sent an email to the Canada’s National Post Friday to “categorically reject the news item.”
“These kinds of slanderous accusations are part of a smear campaign against Iran by vested interests, which needs to be denounced at every step,” Ghahremani wrote.
Representative of Iran’s 25,000 Jews in the nation’s parliament, Maurice Motamed, the only Jewish MP there, told the western press that the report dealt a severe blow to the Jewish image in Iran. “I was there when they discussed the law, and it was about the dress of Iranian Muslim women. Restrictions for minority or other religions were not mentioned,” Motamed said.
Jerusalem Post wrote this..
Iran bill addresses women's clothing
So, as I wrote yesterday the entire thing could be also just a fake..
...but on the other side yesterdays Guardian, GB, wrote this..
Iranian Law Would Encourage Islamic Dress
A draft law being considered by Iran's parliament encourages the wearing of Islamic clothing to protect the country's Muslim identity, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday.
The 13-article bill, which received preliminary approval a week ago, does not mention requiring special attire for religious minorities.
On Friday, the Canadian newspaper The National Post, quoting Iranian exiles, said the law would force Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear special patches of colored cloth to distinguish them from Muslims.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5834371,00.html
Finally, what is the moral of this story...
NEVER TRUST THE bourgeois MEDIA!!
A NEW STEP FOREWARD TO A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY..
IHT, AP reported this yesterday, 5.19..
Nepalese hail vote on secular status
Christian, Buddhist and Muslim leaders in Nepal on Friday hailed the Parliament's move to change the Hindu nation into a secular state.
A resolution passed by Parliament on Thursday included a clause that said Nepal would no longer be formally known as a Hindu country. More than 85 percent of Nepal's 27 million people are Hindus.
"We welcome the government decision. We have been fighting for secular and religious freedom in Nepal for a long time," said K.B. Rokaya of the Regional Council of Churches in Nepal.
Rokaya said the government should form a regulatory body "so that all sort of religious activities can be practiced freely and without any intimidation."
The Nepalese Constitution, written in 1990, declared the Himalayan country a Hindu kingdom.
Cheering Nepalese held rallies in several cities and towns Friday to celebrate Parliament's vote to dramatically cut King Gyanendra's powers and turn him into a figurehead leader.
Communist rebels who control much of the countryside also welcomed the resolution - passed unanimously by Parliament - but said the king's ceremonial role should also be eliminated.
The sweeping resolution called for King Gyanendra to be stripped of his command over the army, his legal immunity, and freedom from paying taxes. It also said the king should lose his official position as head of the Himalayan country, changing traditional references to "His Majesty's government" to simply the "Nepal government."
To be enacted, the resolution still must be voted on as a series of laws, officials said. That was expected in the next few days.
The measure's passage "has begun the process," the deputy prime minister, Khadga Prasad Oli, said Thursday. "The government will work with Parliament to execute the resolution and laws will be drafted to implement the resolution."
Top political leaders addressed a major rally in the capital, Katmandu, on Friday, which the government declared a public holiday to celebrate the passage of the resolution. All government offices and schools were closed for the day, the Home Ministry said in a notice.
The seven parties in the governing alliance called the resolution a historic achievement that had eliminated all of the king's powers.
"This ends the remains of the royal regime and establishes the king as only a figurehead," said Narayanman Bijuchche of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party.
The Communist rebels' leader, Prachanda, said he welcomed the resolution, but said it failed to address all the needs of the people.
"We want to make it clear that this declaration has not been able to fully address the needs and aspirations of Nepal and the Nepali people," the rebel leader, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said in a statement.
He said a continuing ceremonial role for the king "is against the aspiration of the people to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic."
The rebels want to completely abolish the monarchy, but have said they will leave the decision to a special assembly which is to write a new constitution.
The vote in Parliament was the most significant move it has made since the new government assumed power last month.
KATMANDU, Nepal Christian, Buddhist and Muslim leaders in Nepal on Friday hailed the Parliament's move to change the Hindu nation into a secular state.
A resolution passed by Parliament on Thursday included a clause that said Nepal would no longer be formally known as a Hindu country. More than 85 percent of Nepal's 27 million people are Hindus.
"We welcome the government decision. We have been fighting for secular and religious freedom in Nepal for a long time," said K.B. Rokaya of the Regional Council of Churches in Nepal.
Rokaya said the government should form a regulatory body "so that all sort of religious activities can be practiced freely and without any intimidation."
The Nepalese Constitution, written in 1990, declared the Himalayan country a Hindu kingdom.
Cheering Nepalese held rallies in several cities and towns Friday to celebrate Parliament's vote to dramatically cut King Gyanendra's powers and turn him into a figurehead leader.
Communist rebels who control much of the countryside also welcomed the resolution - passed unanimously by Parliament - but said the king's ceremonial role should also be eliminated.
The sweeping resolution called for King Gyanendra to be stripped of his command over the army, his legal immunity, and freedom from paying taxes. It also said the king should lose his official position as head of the Himalayan country, changing traditional references to "His Majesty's government" to simply the "Nepal government."
To be enacted, the resolution still must be voted on as a series of laws, officials said. That was expected in the next few days.
The measure's passage "has begun the process," the deputy prime minister, Khadga Prasad Oli, said Thursday. "The government will work with Parliament to execute the resolution and laws will be drafted to implement the resolution."
Top political leaders addressed a major rally in the capital, Katmandu, on Friday, which the government declared a public holiday to celebrate the passage of the resolution. All government offices and schools were closed for the day, the Home Ministry said in a notice.
The seven parties in the governing alliance called the resolution a historic achievement that had eliminated all of the king's powers.
"This ends the remains of the royal regime and establishes the king as only a figurehead," said Narayanman Bijuchche of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party.
The Communist rebels' leader, Prachanda, said he welcomed the resolution, but said it failed to address all the needs of the people.
"We want to make it clear that this declaration has not been able to fully address the needs and aspirations of Nepal and the Nepali people," the rebel leader, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said in a statement.
He said a continuing ceremonial role for the king "is against the aspiration of the people to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic."
The rebels want to completely abolish the monarchy, but have said they will leave the decision to a special assembly which is to write a new constitution.
The vote in Parliament was the most significant move it has made since the new government assumed power last month.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/19/news/nepal.php
The Guardian, GB, wrote this..
Nepal strips back royal powers
Nepal's parliament voted unanimously to shrink the powers of the country's monarchy yesterday, bringing an end to palace control over the army and the hereditary principle.
The radical steps will strip the king of his formal title of supreme commander-in-chief of the military, and the administration will no longer be called His Majesty's Government but just Nepal government. The cabinet will appoint the army chief.
Coming just a few weeks after street protests forced King Gyanendra to relinquish absolute power over the Himalayan country, the moves are a remarkable reversal of fortune for the palace.
Under the new laws elected representatives will decide on the heir to the throne and stipulate the privileges and expenses of the king. Nepal will also end its status as the world's only Hindu nation, with parliamentarians voting for a secular state. Older Nepalis revere the king as a living god.
The interim prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, told the 205 members of the lower house that the proposed change reflects "the aspirations of the people and respects the sacrifices of the people who were martyred during the [democracy] movement".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1778411,00.html
The Nepalese eKantipur..
Govt orders offices, public places to remove "Royal"
The government on Friday ordered all the state-run offices to change the names of the offices to Nepal Government from HM Government.
Issuing a statement today, the office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers ordered all the offices to make changes in the official materials as per Thursday's House proclamation.
The government ordered to change the Royal Nepalese Army to Nepal Army and remove "Royal" attached to all the government institutions and public places and Nepalese missionaries abroad.
The Israeli bourgeois newspaper Yedioth Achronoth wrote yesterday following story..
Exiles: Iran Jews to wear yellow ribbons
Iranian regime has completely lost its mind
Iranian expatriates reveal that ‘National Uniform Law’ authorized by Iranian parliament includes clause obligating Iranian Jews to wear yellow ribbon; Christians, other minority members to wear colored ribbons as well. ‘If law passes non-Muslims’ lives will become intolerable
Iranian expatriates Friday that the "National Uniform Law" authorized by the Iranian parliament a few days ago, which is aimed at getting “Western” style clothing off the streets and advancing more traditional “Islamic” attire, also includes a clause obligating Iranian Jews to wear a yellow ribbon.
Members of the country’s Christian minority will be forces to wear a red ribbon, while those practicing the ancient Persian religion will be obligated to place a blue ribbon on their clothes.
The new law is expected to go into effect within the next few months after it receives is authorized by Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ali Behroozian, an Iranian currently residing in Toronto, said that if the law passes the lives of Iranians belonging to the non-Muslim minorities will become intolerable.
They have all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress rules are going to make things worse for them," he said.
'Iranian regime has completely lost its mind'
Rabbi Marvin Heir, who heads the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said that Iran is getting "closer and closer to the Nazi ideology," adding that only an international outcry can prevent the law from going into effect.
Heir demanded that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan address the matter at once.
"The world ignored Hitler for many years; he was dismissed as a demagogue, they said he'd never come to power - and we were all wrong," he said.
Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Wiesenthal Center in Israel, said in response, “This is simply a catastrophe; it automatically bring one back to the Holocaust, and we do not need to remind the Israeli public that the yellow badges came just before the expulsion and extermination.
“There is no consolation in the fact that Christians are being labeled as well. The Iranian regime has completely lost its mind. The world cannot stand idly by, and I’m sure this development will place the Iranian issue at the top of the agenda during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s visit to Washington,” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3252830,00.html
Jerusalem Post wrote this about the same issue..
New Iranian law to require Jews to wear yellow band
..and the so called left liberal Haaretz..
Iranian expatriates: Iran may make Jews wear yellow badges But be careful with this, because except Israeli newspapers, as I know, no one is writing about this until now..
Slowly, after many years of fierce fighting for democracy, something is changing in Nepal..
eKantipur published following..
Anyone who dares to underestimate Proclamation will face dire consequences: PM Koirala
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said Thursday that if anyone dares to underestimate the House Proclamation 2063, will face dire consequences.
PM Koirala made the remarks while presenting the Proclamation at the Thursday's sitting of the House of Representatives (HoR). "I appeal to all the people to raise their voices against those who attempt to undermine the proclamation."
"This Proclamation has reflected the desire of the people and each and every word of the Proclamation is written with the blood of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives," said PM Koirala.
House of Representatives (HoR) unanimously endorsed the much-awaited historic House Proclamation 2063 B.S.
Speaker of the HoR, Subash Nemwang declared the endorsement of the proclamation after no one voted "nay".
The Proclamation has declared the HoR as the supreme authority of the country, changed the name of "His Majesty's Government of Nepal" to "Nepal Government", declared Nepal a secular state, scrapped the Supreme-Commander-in-Chief post of the army, and brought all security limbs of the country including the army under the direct control of parliament.
The Proclamation has also changed the name of "Royal Nepalese Army" to "Nepal Army".
Nepal Speaker of the House, Subash Chandra Nemwang read out the Proclamation on behalf of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala due to the latter's poor health condition.
• The name His Majesty's Government of Nepal changed to Nepal Government
• Nepal becomes a secular state
• National anthem to be changed
• Name of Royal Nepalese Army changed to Nepal Army
• The post of Supreme-Commander-in-Chief of the army held by the king and the constitutional provision regarding the mobilisation of the army scrapped
• Army and all other security limbs of the state brought under the direct control of the HoR
• Council of Ministers to appoint the Chief of Army Staff
• Rajparishad scrapped, its duties and responsibilities will be exercised by the HoR
• Parliament to formulate, amend, and annul the laws deciding the heir to the throne
• All executive rights of the state vested only in the Council of Ministers
• Prime Minister will summon the House session and Speaker will adjourn the session on PM's recommendation
• Parliament to decide Royal Palace expenditures and other facilities
• Private property and income of the king to be taxed as per the existing laws
• Questions can be raised in parliament and in a court of law against the king's unconstitutional and illegal actions
• The Royal Household Service scrapped, civil servants to replace Royal Household Service employees
• The Council of Ministers to decide the security arrangement of the Royal Palace
• The provisions of the Constitution of Nepal 1990 and other laws which contravene the House Proclamation will be null and void to the extent of contravention
GEFONT.s, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, comment..
Nepali People Become Sovereign Finally!
In the modern History of Nepal, today (May 18) is the historic day of Victory never witnessed before. Through the Proclamation tabled by the Prime minister, the reinstated House of Representatives declared a historical declaration.
This proclamation, which fully transfers the power of King to Parliament, may be compared to Magna Carta.
Let's celebrate our Victory together!!
And more they wrote..
GEFONT National Council welcomes HoR Proclamation; urges Nepal Government to declare Jeth 04 as the Loktantrik Day
General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) National Council meeting concluded today adopting various resolutions.
The Council-
The Council reviewed the past political and organisational activities and endorse the programme for next tabled by GEFONT Secretariat.
CPN (UML) General Secretary addressed the Council as the principle speaker.
The meeting presided by Chairman Mukunda Neupane; where the summary report of the Secretariat was tabled by the Secretary General Binod Shrestha.
GEFONT National Council meets annually. It is the powerful body between two Congresses, which guides the National Executive Committee on Policies and Programmes.
http://www.gefont.org/summary.asp?flag=3&cid=164
BBC NEWS..
Vote to curb Nepal king's powers
CNN..
Nepal king stripped of most powers
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But as you can see, the struggle is not finished, not at all..
Government to prohibit rallies
Government on Wednesday has decided to prohibit protest rallies and gatherings around the Royal Palace and Singh Durbar.
In Nepal, cabinet changes delayed by coalition infighting
The Associated Press
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2006
Nepal's new government prepared to expand its cabinet Wednesday, but squabbling within one of the country's seven ruling parties delayed an announcement of the changes, officials said.
One of the parties in the governing coalition, the Nepali Congress Democratic, led by the former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, was locked in internal feuds over which candidates to nominate as ministers from their party and who would be the party's leader in Parliament.
"We are all set to make the announcement today but the conflict inside the Nepali Congress Democratic is delaying the process," said Ram Chandra Poudel, general secretary of Nepali Congress, the largest party.
The cabinet, which currently has only 7 members, was expected to add 14 more new members.
"We have finalized the list of who would be in government, but the squabbling in one party is delaying the whole process," said Pradeep Gyawali of the Communist Party of Nepal, another coalition member.
A series of meetings was planned Wednesday by Nepali Congress Democratic to sort out the conflict, said Narayan Prasad Saud, a Parliament member. The delay in forming a government threatened to further stall a parliamentary vote on a proclamation that would curtail King Gyanendra's powers.
The proclamation was scheduled to be presented in Parliament on Monday and was then rescheduled for Thursday, because of the differences within the country's governing coalition.
The declaration would remove King Gyanendra's constitutional control over the 90,000-strong Royal Nepalese Army and his right to make the final decision on major issues. Those powers would be handed to Parliament.
It also would make Gyanendra pay taxes, remove his immunity from prosecution and let Parliament set the royal family's income from the government...
THIS, EXACTLY, IS THE REASON WHY THE PEOPLE IN NEPAL ARE COMPLETE DO NOT TRUST THIS KIND OF POLITICS AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES...
..On Tuesday, about 2,000 people protested delays to the parliamentary vote in the streets of the capital, Katmandu. Demonstrators set on fire at least four government vehicles, blocking traffic, and burning tires on the streets.
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I think the news is false. Just fud.More about the facts at Juan Cole, who is a middle east expert, http://www.juancole.com/ and has all the links to the official declarations, including one from the jewish rep in the iranian parliament
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THANX!!as i wrote, i also was not sure about it..
but on the other side Haaretz is known for mostly more serious reports..
yesterday, 6.20, the Guardian, GB, published this..
Iranian Law Would Encourage Islamic Dress
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5834371,00.html
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