31st October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“There are Palestinian women,
who defy Israeli occupation”
“Lidia Rimawi wanted a
son. Her husband was a political
prisoner serving a 25 year sentence in an Israeli prison”
“He would be fifty years old
when he was finally released”
“To have a child, she took
her husband’s sperm in a plastic bottle and smuggled it out of the prison”
“Lidia took a taxi straight
to the Razan Medical Centre in Ramallah, where she was inseminated”
“It worked and months later
her son Majd was born”
“Her husband was punished for
smuggling his sperm to her”
“His sentence was extended by
two months and he was fined 5,000 shekels (about $1,300) as a punishment”
“The Israeli prison
authorities still refuse to allow Majd to visit his father, so he has had to
see him by photographs”
“It is women like Lidia, who
make up the backbone of the resistance movement in Palestine”
“They are the givers of life,
keepers of family tradition and the culture bearers”
“They continue to resist in
often unreported and unacknowledged ways!”
“Palestinian women believe in
being mothers and martyrs, sisters of fighters and daughters of hunger
strikers”
“Fulla Jallad does not
consider herself to be an artist, but she became inspired to paint the portrait
of Samer Huisawai”
“He was a prisoner on an
eight month hunger strike at the time”
“She was touched by his act
of resistance and she felt compelled to honour him”
“Her paintings have become a
powerful tool for resistance”
“Fulla held the painting next
to his mother, in front of the Red Cross in Ramallah”
“Samer Huisawai is starving
himself, because he is being held with no charge. All he wants is to be treated
as a human being”
“Fulla works as a town guide
at the Natar Resort, the largest museum in the West Bank”
“This is one part of her
struggles to free Palestine”
“She says she shows the world
that Palestine always existed. In the war of existence, to exist is to resist”
“In the city of Silwan, which
has been renamed the City of David, Wadid refuses to move”
“Her house sits with three
others fenced off from what some call Jewish Disneyland”
“Tour guides parade outside
her window and tourists from all over the world see the historic areas”
“In her small well-kept home
there hangs a painting above the table”
“It shows a young man on the
ground with a stab wound in his chest”
“It is Wadid’s son, Yusef,
who was murdered by a settler”
“An artist took a photograph
of his body and painted the likeness for Wadid and her family”
“Her son’s killer remains
free and lives just a few houses away”
“The boy who stabbed her son
was not charged or anything as he was a minor”
“Wadid knows the family well”
“The Israeli state tries to
offer Wadid cash to move, but she insists she is staying unless they kick her
out!”
“Wadid is 78 years old. She
was born there and will remain so”
“Her husband’s dying wish
while in hospital was, “Never take money
for the house””
““If they kick you out, that’s one thing, but don’t take money””
“Her son’s body was taken to
the Abu Khbir Forensic Institute”
“There, all his organs, even
his tendons, were taken out without the family’s permission”
“They even took his eyes.
Wadid later buried what was left of her son!”
““It is very difficult to live in this place”, Wadid says, “but we do not move from here””
““I stay here because it is our land. It is Palestinian land!””
“They live to raise children,
teaching the young about the history and all forms of resistance and
demonstrations”
“Palestinians have to remain
steadfast!”
30th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“China these days has many
more women than men due to the one child policy”
“As a result it has caused
women, who are still in their late thirties to remain unmarried”
“The parents of these women
are extremely worried about their children being single”
“The mothers in Beijing are
doing what they call ‘Marriage Markets’”
“Here the mothers of single
children gather in the city’s Zhongshan Park in the hope of matching their child
up with another desperate parent”
“Twice a week around 30-60
parents meet up in the same spot carrying pieces of paper which hold the
relevant information about their child”
“It contains their job
information, level of education and salary as well as their physical
attributes”
“When these ‘Marriage Markets’ first started, it was
primarily the mothers doing the work, now they are dragging their single
children along”
“Out of duty, single women
accompany their mothers twice a week and stand beside them silently for over an
hour at a time”
“This is most humiliating for
the single women”
“A term, which depicts single
women of a certain age, is ‘Leftover’”
“It was first mentioned in
the Chinese Women’s Federation in 2007. It describes young females in their
late 20’s that are not married”
“While the label is new, the
message isn’t!”
“Marriage in China has less
to do with romantic love and more to do with duty and social stability”
“Today, China’s women still
face harsh judgements for remaining unmarried past a certain age”
“The stigmatism is that these
women have failed and therefore there must be a problem with them”
“A young woman of 27 years
old was so desperate to rid herself of the label ‘Leftover’ that she practically stopped eating”
“Chinese men prefer thin
women”
“This young woman just wanted
to be normal, get married and have a baby”
“Another young woman, now 36
and still not married, spent her life studying and making money and sending
that money back home”
“By the time she was 30, she still
had no idea about relationships or how to put on make up to make herself look
beautiful”
“She had stopped going back
home, as her family and the community saw her as a monster because she was
single”
“Today, a Chinese journalist
called Roseann Lake, who spends most of her time now in the US, travelled for
three years all over China”
“There she met and
interviewed over 100 women for her book called the ‘Leftover Phenomenon’”
“Lake has made a film getting
both men and women to share their stories”
“It gives an insight to the
complexities of love, sex, marriage and relationships in China”
“This film also emphasises
the unrealistic social pressures and expectations that accompany all these
issues”
“The tragedy that makes women
feel discriminated against, because of their unmarried status, is that they are
made to feel like weirdos”
“It has been said that they
cannot do their jobs properly, because they do not have a husband”
“More and more women are
slowly changing their minds, especially in the big cities”
“China is becoming more open
and the people are starting to talk about being ‘Leftover’ – they can begin to actually laugh about it!”
“There is an article, which
sheds light on the human rights issues that surround China regarding their own
people especially the young women”
“They are so cruelly
stigmatised, just because they cannot get married by a certain age”
“What chance is there for
other situations, where the Chinese people are unable to perform in the right
way through no fault of their own?”
29th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“The world’s first
‘Indigenous Olympics’ are being held in Brazil”
“Palmas is Brazil’s Amazon
city”
“Here the event is held,
where archers, wrestlers and runners from ethnic groups from around the world
take part”
“This sporting event brings
together athletes from over 20 countries and the games opened on 23rd
October and run until 1st November”
“These athletes are competing
in ten sports, which range from running, swimming, wrestling and football”
“There are also the
traditional games like spear-throwing and racing with heavy logs”
“This is Brazil’s first year
in opening up what will be an annual Indigenous Games for foreigners to come
and experience this amazing event”
“It has been said that it’s a
low key version of what will be next year’s Summer Olympics, which are being
held in Rio de Janeiro”
“It was the indigenous people
from the various ethnic groups and countries that danced during the opening
ceremony”
“All danced in their native
colourful costumes”
“This multisport event has
over 2,000 participants from 23 countries and is a triumphant for the
organisers”
“It is also a triumph for the
participants, who take part in this glorious event”
“Brazil is home to nearly
900,000 indigenous people that speak a total of 274 languages”
“It has been estimated that
there are 370 million indigenous peoples making up more than 5% of the world’s
population”
“The number of privileged
spectators watching these games is between 10,000 and 30,000 each day”
“We, as people, are
privileged to have such rich cultures in our world”
“These games continue to
highlight the need to embrace all and to learn from them”
“Everybody the world over has
something to offer, either through experience, skills or the gifts we can share
with one another”
“We should never fear
another’s race, but embrace them as we strive to learn more”
“Then we can become enriched
by their knowledge of life, which we all share”
“These Indigenous Olympics
will flourish and all will come to enjoy them with an open heart and mind!”
28th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“As we live in an
ever-changing world, we have to start to see things differently and to
understand that we are all human”
“We are all created from the
same source of intelligence that is the balance in all things”
“We, as a human race, are
joined together by our spiritual life-force, which is inside all of us”
“It only departs from our
physical being at the point of brain death”
“We all arrive from the same
creative force and all return to it when it is our time to leave this earthly
plane”
“It is important to recognise
and understand that we are all people together”
“We all bleed. We cry when we are upset, we get ill and we
all strive to reunite with each other to feel and experience love”
“We must, as a human race,
stop looking at our colour, where we came from and where we are going”
“We must start to look within
and see the God force in each and every one of us and to understand we are all
one in his creation”
“Love is the powerful
experience, which all understand and desire.
To this we all gravitate”
“It is the power of that love
that binds us in goodness and is the reason we can all grow and thrive”
“Accept each and every one of
you that you were created in love”
“We are watched over in love
and will be united in the next dimension in everlasting love after our earthly
life is over!”
27th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“The University of Mississippi
has stopped flying the state flag on its campus, because it features the
Confederate battle emblem”
“Students are mainly young
people of conscience and they have come together as a student body, which voted
to remove the flag”
“These students were joined
by two other student groups reinforcing the same theme”
“It was the University of
Mississippi that came to the realisation years ago that the Confederate battle
flag did not represent their core values”
“These core values are
civility and respect for others”
“The murder of nine
parishioners at the historical black church in Charleston, South Carolina
renewed their debate”
“This was on the place the
flag had in US culture”
“A month after the tragedy,
the Confederate flag was removed from South Carolina’s capital grounds”
“At the time of the US Civil
War, the Confederate flag became a symbol for southern states fighting to break
away from the union”
“Many now see the Confederate
flag as an icon of slavery and racism”
“While the US is still coming
to terms with its past…”
“…any attempt to bring in
reform of togetherness and integration of all its citizens is welcomed”
“It must be remembered that
black slaves were brought into the US by force”
“Many were subjected to
horrific injustices, which have been well documented”
“It is high time that white
people realised that black people have standards, are human with feelings and
have their pride”
“Many of the African people
came from high places of office in their communities”
“They were treated like less
than dogs when they arrived on US soil”
“It is high time that respect
was given to these souls and for the white man to be reminded of their hand in
all the sufferings that went on”
“In order for the US to
survive and thrive, it must move forwards and recognise all its citizens are
equal under the law”
“This includes their first
nation Americans”
“All must be given equal
rights for their advancement and not just for the select few”
“A nation is only great by
the reduction of poverty within its subjects”
“Those standards of education
should be enjoyed for all, furthering the US in all areas where its citizens
can benefit”
“Anything less than that is
pure dereliction of the State’s own duty”
26th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“An Indian woman stranded in
Pakistan for a decade has finally returned to India”
“Geeta, who has speech and
hearing impairments, was about eleven years old when it was believed she
strayed into Pakistan”
“Her plight emerged following
a Bollywood film, which told the story of a Pakistani girl, who could not speak
and was trapped in India”
“All this time Geeta had been
looked after by the Edhi Foundation charity”
“It was they who accompanied
her from Karachi to Delhi”
“There she was received by
officials from the Pakistani High Commission and India’s Foreign Ministry”
“Efforts have been made to
find Geeta’s family since August, after India accepted her as one of their
citizens”
“Geeta will need to undertake
a DNA test to match her up with her real family and where at last she can be
reunited with them”
“The Pakistani media have
been closely following Geeta’s journey back home”
“Geeta’s homecoming is being
seen as a rare example of humanitarian cooperation between the two hostile
neighbouring countries”
“Geeta was presented with
flowers and gifts before she left Pakistan”
“Faisal Edhi runs the charity
that has cared for Geeta all this time”
“He said, “Geeta is not really separating from us. We
will keep in touch with her”
“When love, right thinking
and action are performed new life is born”
“Then there is a better
understanding that we are all human and need help at times”
“It is to be commended that
the Edhi Foundation charity has a lot of love in their hearts & are able to
help so many people with this love”
“Geeta won’t be the only one
who has benefitted from them!”
25th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“Dr Edith Kariko and her
colleagues in Papua New Guinea have dedicated their lives to bringing
information about family planning options”
“They bring it to the
villages in the highland regions”
“It is from these remote
villages that the people have to travel long distances to find family planning
assistance”
“This results in families
being far larger than they can cope with”
“At present having four
children is already too many and it increases the risks of maternal mortality”
“It also means that women are
less able to get paid work”
“It becomes harder for their
children to go to school, as money is needed for this to happen”
“Dr Kariko’s family planning
techniques use comedy theatre to get their messages across and to show what
options are available to them”
“As a result many of the men
end up choosing to get a vasectomy – a simple five minute operation”
“In the past few years there
has been a 7,000 % increase in vasectomies”
“Dr Kariko is forging ahead
bringing in long term relief to many families, who are already overstretched”
“With her methods it allows
families to take an active role in just how many children they are capable of
comfortably affording”
“This family planning project
has already had an impact on the wider community and the country at large”
“Again it is women fighting
for women & to bring in salvation where all are able to gain & that
includes the wanted children of this world”
24th October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“Thousands of students
gathered outside President Zuma’s Pretoria offices saying theirs was a hollow
victory”
“It was a peaceful crowd of
demonstrators, mainly students”
“But there were others who
were black and white, rich and poor, who demonstrated against the rise of
student fees”
“The South African Police
Services as always go in heavy-handedly spraying tear gas and shooting rubber
bullets into the crowd”
“This was shortly after the
announcement that President Zuma would not increase student fees”
“This protest is taking the
country in a new direction of popular protest, likely to play a part in next
year’s local government elections”
“The student protest
flourished from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg”
“It grew to a nationwide shut
down of the higher education institutions”
“Many students cannot afford
the registration fees, never mind the school fees themselves”
“The desperation for these
students is unimaginable”
“Protests were the only
vehicle that the students had to stem the annual escalation of fees at the
higher education institutions”
“This protest had been the
biggest student protest to hit the country since apartheid ended in 1994”
“Today’s protest lasted for a
whole week”
“As the protests mounted, it
forced the Education Minister to issue a 6% cap on all fees for the coming
academic year”
“The University
administrators thought this was a healthy compromise, the students disagreed”
“The President of
Witwatersrand Student Representative Council said the students had three
demands”
“These were the outsourcing
of labour on university campuses, an end to discrimination of workers on
university campuses…”
“…and zero percentage
increase in fees for 2016”
“This was to be a step
forwards in achieving a free education”
“President Zuma chose to
speak on national television rather than to address the students first”
“This showed his political
manipulation of the situation”
“This made the students very
angry indeed”
“ANC members, who voted for
the increase in student’s fees, later join in the student demonstrations in
Pretoria”
“They were celebrating the
student’s victory”
“This is absurd, as ANC
members are responsible for policy decisions advocating the increase in student
fees”
“They then proceeded to join
the students against the increases”
“These contradictions points
to the failings of the ANC identity”
“The ANC enjoy the trappings
of their political party with all the decision makings”
“But at the same time they
want to be seen as a social movement”
“The student victory in the
student’s eyes is already a hollow one and maybe short lived”
“Education for students is
the most important tool to addressing inequality and should be accessible and
affordable for all!”
“They now have to see if
their demands are noticed by the present Government”
“What is for sure is that
they will have their voices heard until victory is finally won!”
23rd October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“Forty years tomorrow, 24th
October 1975, signifies what Icelandic people call ‘The Long Friday’”
“On that day the women of
Iceland went on strike and they refused to work, cook and look after the
children for the day”
“It was a moment in history
that changed the way women were seen in the country”
“It helped to put Iceland at
the forefront of the fight for equality”
“In November 1980, a divorced
single mother won Iceland’s Presidency, her name was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir”
“Called Vigdís, she became
Europe’s first female President and the first woman in the world to be
democratically elected as head of state”
“She held this position for
sixteen years”
“As a result many Icelandic
children had grown up thinking that being President was a women’s job”
“Vigdís’s Presidency set
Iceland on a course to become known as “the world’s most feminist country””
“On that day, 90% of the
women in the country decided to demonstrate their importance by going on
strike”
“Instead of going to the
office and doing the housework or childcare they took to the streets in their
thousands”
“They went to rally for equal
rights with men”
“It is known in Iceland as
the Women’s Day Off”
“The women’s strike
completely paralysed the country and opened up the eyes of many men”
“Banks, factories and some
shops had to close, as did schools and nurseries”
“This left the fathers no
choice, but to take their children to work and later to take them back home to
feed them”
“It was a real baptism of
fire for some fathers; literally the men had to take care of everything”
“Children’s voices were heard
in the background while the newsreaders read the news on the radio”
“It is high time that women
start to believe in their own self-worth and the very important contribution
they make to all societies”
“It is at times of war when
the men are away fighting that women become the back bone of countries”
“They are doing all the jobs
that men used to do”
“Women need to stand and
unite together in strength to bring about changes, without that unity changes
will be slow and protracted”
“It is now that women must
gather momentum and believe in their own power and effectiveness in their roles
as equals around the world”
“Until this is done collectively,
then women’s power will not be sustained and will be seen as a sign of
weakness”
“The world is changing and
women are starting to realise that they are able to go forwards without the
constant battering by men”
“It is the men that continue
to put them in their place”
“This change cannot come in
soon enough, as many women are subjected to immense cruelty by the dominance of
men”
22nd October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“Benjamin Netanyahu has been
mocked and condemned”
“He has claimed that Hitler
did not intend to kill the Jews until he was convinced to do so by a
Palestinian mufti”
“Hitler was already
massacring Jews many months before he even met with Haj Amin Husseini”
“As always Netanyahu
continues to incite hatred and revenge against the Palestinians for what he
sees as his right to do”
“It is now time that world
leaders stand united to bring about positive action”
“They must not allow for a
hatred deranged person to continue shouting his mouth off”
“Germany’s Chancellor Angela
Merkel needs no reminder of the holocaust undertaken by Hitler at that time”
“Germany’s efforts to bring
about solutions to make amends for their failings at that time are ongoing”
“It is high time that
Netanyahu learnt from International leaders”
“Israel must start dealing
with their own ethnic cleansing that they continue to do in their apartheid
state”
“Hatred in this world will
never win out”
“The destruction caused by
Netanyahu’s extreme hatred is being felt by all Jews around the world”
“It is they who feel the
repercussions of his despicable behaviour”
“The hatred of Jews worldwide
continues to increase year on year, because Netanyahu refuses to change”
“He thinks he can win by
obliterating Palestinians from this world”
“This will never happen and
Palestinians will continue to survive”
“This in spite of the
International communities shameless burying their heads in the sand and
continuing to do nothing”
“As we have said before, it
is Israel that rules this world”
“The genie in the bottle has
been released and is now so powerful none will stand up to it”
“Even America is embarrassed
but does nothing, again shame on them”
“Henry Kissinger once said “Israel won’t exist in 20 years, because
they refuse to change their apartheid rogue ways””
“Those words will come true!”
21st October 2015 (jandmayers and ladylydialondon twitter)
“Both North & South
Koreas have come together to allow for families who have not seen each other
for 60 years to have a family reunion”
“A young woman Lee Soon-kyu
married at the age of 19”
“She was pregnant and her
husband, who worked in the fields of South Korea, simply disappeared”
“The young man, Oh In-she,
was supposed to be off for a week’s military training, but he never returned”
“Decades passed and Lee
Soon-kyu thought her husband had died”
“She looked after her in-laws
and paid annual rites to her husband and kept a pair of his shoes”
“Lee Soon-kyu raised their
son, Jang-kyun, as a single mother, never remarrying”
“When Jang-kyun heard his father
was still alive in North Korea, he wanted to see him”
“At 64 years old he felt at
last he had a father and felt a sense of pride”
“It was arranged for the
families to gather together in an immigration building south of the border”
“From there they went on
buses to the North Korean resort”
“Lee met her husband with a
compassionate smile. He had remarried and has another family in the North,
which did not worry Lee Soon-kyu”
“There was little time for
these meetings, with only six meetings of two hours each before they all had to
say their goodbyes”
“Jang-kyun gave his father a
deep bow out of respect to a man he had never met, but still was able to
recognise him from across the room”
“Later husband and wife sat
at a table feeding each other crackers and laughing like newlyweds”
“This is one story amid tens
of thousands of around 66,000 South Koreans, who remain on the register of
applicants”
“They wanted to meet up with
their families, but many had already died in the waiting”
“The North/South Korean
conflict, which shows no signs of abating, has caused deep wounds and scars to
its people”
“Perhaps one day sanity will
be recognised and peace will finally come to this divided people”
“As with the Berlin Wall,
time moves on and a new way of operating becomes possible”
“We all pray for that to
happen”
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