“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Saudi activist honoured as 'Woman of Courage'

RNW, by Karima Idrissi7 March 2012

(RNW screenshot) 
  
Saudi Arabian activist Samar Badawi has been selected as one of this year's recipients of the prestigious International Women of Courage Award.

by Jannie Schipper and Karima Idrissi

The prize is handed out by the US State Department and honours 10 extraordinary women from all corners of the globe. Badawi gained international recognition in 2010: she challenged Saudi Arabia's extremely restrictive guardianship system by suing her father. She has also filed lawsuits against the government demanding the right for women to vote and drive vehicles.

Badawi's most recent campaign has been for the right to drive. She requested a driving licence from the motor vehicles authorities in Jeddah, where she lives. After the request was officially accepted, Badawi rang the ministry every day for two months to find out the status of her application.

She says the response was rude and unpleasant. She then filed a complaint with the interior ministry. It is the latest move in the fight being waged by Saudi women in their battle to be allowed to drive. They have also tried petitions and driving cars, which has led to a number of arrests. Fellow activist Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested last year for driving a car, has also filed a complaint with the interior ministry.

Right to lead your own life

Samar Badawi says driving a car is a symbol of the wider right to freedom of movement for Saudi women: "Women can't go onto the streets alone nor can they go to government offices to arrange official documents, including a passport," she says. Badawi tells Radio Netherlands Worldwide, "I think the state wants to deny women the right to travel because that would open the door for other rights." Saudi Arabian women are not allowed to leave the country unaccompanied.

Badawi has personal experience with fighting for the right to lead one's own life. In 2010 she became global news when she ended up in prison without a proper trial. She was jailed because she had failed to obey her father, even though she was a 30-year-old woman with a child.

Father versus daughter

In Saudi Arabia, men control the lives of women: fathers have control of their daughters until they marry and husbands have custody of their wives. If a woman divorces, her father is once again legally responsible for her. Badawi says, "My mother died when I was 13. My father beat me, verbally abused me and threw me out of the house." Even after she married and had a son, her father continued to interfere in her life. Eventually, she divorced and had to move back into her father's house, where the cycle of abuse started again.

She eventually took her son and moved into an abused woman's shelter and started legal proceedings to strip her father of custody rights over her. In turn, he brought a case against her for disobedience. Her brother was also named as a defendant in the case as he supported his sister. Among other things, she was 'accused' of signing a petition calling for women to be allowed to drive. After the initial charges were dismissed, the angry father tried again. The second time around he drew a conservative judge who ruled in his favour and Samar Badawi was imprisoned, without ever facing a proper trial.

She was freed after a seven-month global campaign and she was given into the custody of her uncle. Not long after that, she hit the headlines again; this time she audaciously demanded the right to vote. That was in April 2011: a few months later the Saudi monarch announced that woman will be given the right to vote and run in municipal elections as of 2015. Women were also given the right to be appointed to the Shura Council, a consultative body that advises the king.

Behind the wheel

Badawi is now waiting to hear whether the courts will hear her complaint about her driving licence. "If they don't hear the case, I will demand to know the reason why," she says. She counters the religious and social arguments against driving a car with religious and social arguments for women being allowed to drive: "I am a mother and I work and I don't have my own chauffeur. Which is more dangerous or more likely to lead to licentious behaviour, me getting into a car with a complete stranger or me getting behind the wheel of my own car, by myself?" According to Badawi, men are usually the spanner in the works: "women want to be independent and drive but the husband, the father or the brother is afraid of the authorities or what people will say."

That’s no longer true of her. She has been supported in all the legal battles by the human rights lawyer Walied Abou Khair. She has since married him, again against the wishes of her father. She says, "My husband is my comfort and my support. When I got behind the wheel of a car on the first big women's driving action day on 17 June, he encouraged and supported me."

Related Articles:

Saudi authorities to try woman for driving

Saudi woman driver's lashing 'overturned by king'
Saudi woman to be lashed for defying driving ban

Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections



"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum TeachingThe Fear of God, Near-death ExperienceGod Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent CreatorGlobal Unity.... etc.(Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience

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