“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.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Sudan woman risks flogging over uncovered hair

Google – AFP, Ian Timberlake (AFP), 10 Sep 2013

Under Sudanese law, women's hair is supposed to be covered with
a "hijab" (AFP/File, Ashraf Shazly)

KHARTOUM — A Sudanese woman says she is prepared to be flogged to defend the right to leave her hair uncovered in defiance of a "Taliban"-like law.

Amira Osman Hamed faces a possible whipping if convicted at a trial which could come on September 19.

Under Sudanese law her hair -- and that of all women -- is supposed to be covered with a "hijab". But Hamed, 35, refuses to wear one.

Her case has drawn support from civil rights activists and is the latest to highlight Sudan's series of laws governing morality which took effect after the 1989 Islamist-backed coup by President Omar al-Bashir.

"They want us to be like Taliban women," Hamed said in an interview with AFP, referring to the fundamentalist militant movement in Afghanistan.

She is charged under Article 152 which prohibits "indecent" clothing.

In 2009, the case of journalist Lubna
 Ahmed al-Hussein (pictured) led to
 a global outcry (AFP/File, Ashraf
Shazly)
Activists say the vaguely worded law leaves women subject to police harassment and disproportionately targets the poor in an effort to maintain "public order".

"This public order law changed Sudanese women from victims to criminals," says Hamed, a divorced computer engineer who runs her own company.

"This law is targeting the dignity of Sudanese people."

Hamed said she was visiting a government office in Jebel Aulia, just outside Khartoum, on August 27 when a policeman aggressively told her to cover her head.

"He said, 'You are not Sudanese. What is your religion?'"

"I'm Sudanese. I'm Muslim, and I'm not going to cover my head," Hamed replied.

Her dark hair, tinged golden, is braided tight against her scalp with a flare of curls at the back.
Hamed said she was detained for a few hours, charged, and then bailed.

At her first court appearance on September 1, when the case was delayed until later this month, about 100 women and some men gathered to support her.

Many of the protesting women had their heads uncovered, as did Hamed who says she has "never, ever" worn a hijab.

"There are many (who) wear it because they are afraid, not because they want to wear it," she said, speaking at her family's home and dressed in blue jeans which could get her into trouble if she went outside.

Hamed was charged in 2002 for wearing trousers but a lawyer helped her get off with only a fine, rather than a flogging.

Most women do not have the benefit of legal assistance and are too ashamed to tell their families about their arrest under the morality law, leaving them at the mercy of the court and vulnerable to sexual harassment by police, she says.

"Daily, Sudanese women are flogged in the court under this law."

In 2009, the case of journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein led to a global outcry and spotlighted women's rights in Sudan.

Hussein was fined for wearing slacks in public but she refused to pay. She spent one day behind bars until the Sudanese Journalists' Union paid the fine on her behalf.

Others rounded up with her in a restaurant were flogged.

"You are a slut. You want guys to sleep with you. That's why you are wearing like this," another woman, who has been detained twice in Khartoum, remembers police telling her.

"This was very humiliating," said the woman, a professional worker who asked to be identified only as Rania.

She told AFP she was detained but not charged, once for leaving her hair uncovered and a second time for wearing trousers.

"Why women in Sudan cannot have the right to decide what to wear, if they want to cover or not?" Rania asked.

She and Hamed say application of the law is uneven, because at high-end restaurants women can leave their hair exposed without risk of arrest.

Sudan's national police spokesman could not be reached on Sunday for comment.

Asked about the activists' concerns, Rabbie Abdelatti Ebaid, a senior official from the governing National Congress Party, said President Bashir is seeking views from a wide spectrum of society on a new draft constitution for Sudan.

The constitution, from which laws derive, will be designed to take into consideration the will, culture and customs of the people while "respecting the human being", he said.

Hamed hopes the laws will change.

In the meantime she expects to be convicted at trial and says she is ready for any sentence -- including a flogging.

"I take a risk to tell what is happening in our country and I hope that will be the last time a Sudanese woman is arrested by this law."

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