UPdates on Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Items

Plea to aid sister jailed in US for 86 years
February 24 2012 at 11:40am
By Yusuf Omar

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS IOL.CO.ZA

Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, in Soweto, is on an international tour to raise awareness about her sister, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who has already served 3 251 days in a US prison. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

We meet at the Dlamini mosque in Soweto, an unlikely first stop for neurologist Dr Fowzia Siddiqui’s international tour to raise awareness about the plight of her US-imprisoned sister, Aafia Siddiqui.

Today marks 3 251 days since Aafia, an American-educated Pakistani woman, was incarcerated for assault with intent to murder her US interrogators while she was being detained in Afghanistan.

She is serving an 86-year sentence in solitary confinement in the US, and is believed to have cancer.

Fowzia’s left arm is in a cast, broken last week in Pakistan when she says the vehicle she was travelling in was attacked by policemen with batons. She was on her way to a march at the US embassy with tens of thousands of people.

She notices a bundle of Wikipedia printouts with her sister’s name on them in my hand. “If you are going to believe that stuff, then the interview is cancelled,” she said, stern-faced.

Nine years in the media spotlight has made her sceptical of the pens and flashing lights. “But if you want the truth, listen to me,” she said.

Aafia is commonly cited as a neuro-scientist, but her sister said she had a doctorate in education. “She didn’t even major in biology or physics. They just want to make her look scary and push this terrorist idea.”

Supporters of the campaign believe she is a 9/11 pawn, framed on terrorism charges and innocent on all accounts. Others call her a dangerous al-Qaeda member.

For the first five years of her sister being in prison, Fowzia said she wrote letters to her every day. “The US Embassy would have a closetful by now.”

Fowzia said she and her family had received death threats, but she was tired of being unheard.

“If she was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman, the world would be standing… How can she be imprisoned for 86 years? She didn’t kill anyone.”

The Siddiqui family have one more appeal left against the sentence. “We will use it when we think the time is right, when enough support has emerged and when we can clarify all the misconceptions.”

Fowzia, who said she would continue the fight to free her sister for the rest of her life, will take the campaign to the UK next. - The Star

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To learn more plz go to freeaafia.org and to International Justice Network (where Tina Foster has been working hard behind the scenes to find out whatever happened to Aafia's missing baby along with other issues.) See "Just the Facts" at both websites and you will also find plenty if you search for oneheartforpeace and nomorecrusades with Aafia Siddiqui in the search topic.

See the latest by Stephen Lendman who has written quite a few articles about Aafia which have been published in a number of sources here

See a short summary of the recent appeal for Dr. Aafia represented in court by US lawyer Dawn Cardi (The Nation (Pakistan) here

A write up of major legal and other concerns early 2011 here

You may also want to take a look at an earlier still excellent analysis
(2008) "Don't Blame the Victim here

Twelve Steps: Applications for Us All (personal and beyond)

See the post just below for possible ways to use these steps:

1. We admitted we were powerless over ______________ -- that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10.Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Using the 12 Steps as a Peacemaker's Tool

The 12 Steps have been used for years in application to addictive substances and the feeble/mistaken attempts of loved ones seeking to help their broken, addicted family or friend.

Years ago as I drove people to such meetings, I was moved and felt the help, challenge and grace in these 12 steps for us all.

Now, as I look at these steps again in a more personal way, I also remember how helpful it is to substitute ANY addiction here.

Some applications are surely NEEDED DESPERATELY in our World of Warring in need of a World of Peace-making.

As we put in the addictions of our own nation's, pseudo-religion, group, family or personal challenge.

Here are a few possible addictions for the term for alcohol/substance in the blank for the TWELVE STEPS post above

OBSESSION

WAR-MAKING

POSSESSION (of things or others' things, oil, land, etc.)

CONTROLLING SPIRIT (personal or national)

DENIAL (personal, social, national, religiosity-related)

RUDENESS (general discourtesy of all manner -- including in relationship to other peoples -- nations)

ANGER

RACISM

FEAR (including fear of ANOTHER PERSON OR BELIEF SYSTEM)

PHOBIA (put in your own)

VIOLENT MEDIA, MUSIC, OR RAP

WEAPONS (of limited or mass destruction -- all kinds including words)

Let's find a way to CHOOSE LOVE (which has been here waiting all along.)

Cold, Cold Heart" by Kathy Kelly

"We lull ourselves into a comforting delusion that we're waging humanitarian wars, and then wonder why people aren't more grateful."

Read this personal article by the visionary of Creative NonViolence -- one of the most consistent peace movements and communities of our times. GO here

Glenn Greenwald is a Brave Soul (We must listen to him)

While of course the other nations he seeks to save from war are themselves FAR from perfect...yet the point is Glenn does rais undeniable questions about are priorities and over and over again we MUST ask as he does: How is going to war with yet another nation going to help the people of that nation -- Just WHAT is our track record of THAT?

Look for this one on February 13, 2012 in the archives:
US v Pakistan on Transparency and Accountability (this is a respected constitutional

You may want to keep checking Glenn's work day by day: http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/

Greenwald has been boldly questioning much of the US mainstream media's blind furthering of war-mongering.

He's a force to reckon with even when he takes lots of time to read. Seems his commentators don't mind the length. I'm surprised The New York Times has published his books in the past and I wonder if they will in the future?

I'm not sure I agree with his take on Ron Paul although he does give lots of facts, food for thought and his own qualifiers here.

Among his comments -- which are getting bolder and bolder -- a kind of "righteous anger" -- he said most recently about media revving up anti-Iran rhetoric -- rather mindlessly:

"It’s the sort of thing you would produce if you set out to create a mean-spirited parody of mindless, war-hungry, fear-mongering media stars, but you wouldn’t dare go this far because you’d want the parody to have a feel of realism to it, and this would be way too extreme to be believable."

One example of his recent questioning of the media here

Meeting Joseph in the Quran for the First Time

(Hello, I'm reposting this one from August 2009 on One Heart for Peace -- because I just now received a notice February 2012 that Fatima's response was pending my approval. So sorry, Fatima -- yet I'm glad to see it now since the reminder is good for me today. Also, I'm not sure why links to my posts are not working? This appears to be new for my blogsites. So, plz refer to dates and simply the name of my blogs rather than links if you pass these on.)

Joseph was a man singled out for this amazing purpose: to help his nation's people as well as helping family who had misused him -- and while so doing being a forerunner of others specially so marked. Constantly he was forgiving and turning evil into good. Yet Joseph -- good man 'though he was -- knew he needed supernatural help with some situations like we all do -- to ward off misconduct. Striking that to Joseph - doing right was so precious that he risked jail rather than to act wrongly. The way Joseph begged so urgently, fervently for God's help at some points strikes a strong reminiscent chord.

Revenge was not for Joseph -- even when it was common -- he found other ways. He navigated among peoples with other beliefs apparently at ease with himself, his own role and with great dignity. He worked to help society (the poor as well as the well established) with most basic physical as well as moral needs without becoming part of any war machinery. He neither took on values contradictory to his own convictions nor did he force his on others. He found his own way to accomplish the Divine will.

While Joseph became highly esteemed, he did not reduce his calling by arrogance. Even his imprisonment he turned into blessings. Joseph brings to mind the role of those who "stand in the gap" -- who become a bridge between the rich and poor, the oppressed and the rulers who may have ignored or oppressed them.

His role was one of peace.

I noticed something in this the story of 'Joseph' which reminds me of a frequent theme in my discussions and readings: the value of dignity in all. Nor did Joseph reduce this dignity -- even to his conniving brothers by offering "cheap grace". Yet for their own sake and for perhaps the sake of his own respect, Joseph made sure some lessons were well-learned. Kind acts for Joseph needed discretion, knowledge and craftily-wise intuition - important qualities to include along with compassion. Those given to natural and frequent acts of charity can sometimes be used or misled and thus lose dignity and then so do those who misuse the giving person.

There is a universal and timeless pattern here between the Divine and the seer, mystic, prophet or savior of the people: "Your Lord is choosing you and teaching you how to interpret events, and completing His favor towards you..." Just consider that it is the One - Love in complete Essence -- the only Pure, Merciful, All-Knowing One wants us to learn to discern -- to interpret events in our own time and often provides the means.

THERE IS A CONTINUITY HERE IN JOSEPH - a continuity from generation to generation -- between historical eras even -- which so often we forget. After editing this -- I read Khurram Ali Shafique Sahib's offering on Joseph in Republic of Rumi and especially noted this that "every single item is a metaphor that may never run out of applications in the lives of individuals, nations and humanity."

So much of life seems to be an emergency today as then. The fast pace in Chapter 12 of the Quran also gives this sense. Yet by contrast, how helpful to see this universal wisdom from the mouth of Joseph's father earlier in story "Patience is beautiful!" And then in the narrative that -- with Joseph -- Love "was Dominant in his affair, even though most...do not realize it." Love was there all along.

Connie L. Nash (I hope to present other references/updates sooner or later)

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Original source of photo at top of page - by Urang Awak - an Indonesian here

10 Years Ago: Dennis Kucinich Prayer for America

This was ten years ago last Friday Feb 17 2-12

GO here

Oh to know and live our BEST history and to be so sorry and make amends for the rest.

Then perhaps we will heal our land and end our revengeful soul.