“repeat after me: I am free”

If our lives do not demand explanation, then we have become the system we hope to change.-IC

Words of Inspiration

A beautiful  Message about the people of Yemen by Mohammad Arifi. If you dont have the patience to listen to the whole thing, fwd to the10th minute where he really begins to focus on Yemen. Amazing words. 

Wave My Flag

Incredible poem by @Sanasino

RadioActive Control

This incredible installation by Luzinterruptus was part of a 30 day exhibition to show the world that we must change our energy resources. In their efforts to raise awareness about nuclear energy, Radioactive Control was born.. Below are some photographs by Gustavo Sanabria.

An army of 100 scarecrows dressed in glowing decontamination suits kept a sinister vigil over the Dockville Festival in Hamburg earlier this month.

Installed by Spanish designers Luzinterruptus, the figures were supported in regular rows and adorned with nuclear symbols, blank faces and taped-up mouths.

Yemeni Rap song

Bahrain, Yemen, media-government bull shit

Yemen, like Bahrain gets little to almost no coverage in mainstream media. Unlike it's cousin, Egypt, Yemen & Bahrain  are being ignored.   I remember going  days and days without sleep, not because im up doing work or writing or because im worried but because a  revolution was unfolding before my eyes and I felt a part of it. My bed became my Tahrir. 


Al Jazeera played a significant role in the Egyptian revolution, televising the Revolution from the beginning.  And ever since, International media coverage  has been empowering for the Arab Spring revolutions. 


Unfortunately though, this cannot be said the same for  Yemen and Bahrain. Media coverage have failed to provide the same attention on their  non-violent revolutions like they have for Egypt, Libya and more recently Syria. 


The lack of coverage and silence of the International community signals their acceptance to the brutal crackdown happening on peaceful protestors.  Yemen  has been a "Friend" to the U.S. by allowing them to use Yemen as a battle ground to fight   "Terrorism"  but the only reason "terrorism" exists is because Yemen's president lives off the idea of it! I don't deny the existence of AQAP but I do believe that the hype of "terrorism"   been created to keep Yemen under U.S. control. 

Since the U.S. provides military aid to Yemen, it bears a RESPONSIBILITY to make sure it's US MILITARY AID IS NOT BEING USED IN WAYS THAT ARE CONTRARY TO AMERICAN VALUES! If you follow Yemen's revolution  ( go on Youtube if you dont to watch some clips) you will find thousands of Yemenis facing mass murder and genocide.


The Wests  Silence over Yemen is disgusting. The US role is clearly seen to be in the interest of keeping Yemen under their control  at whatever blood it costs the Yemeni people. Saleh has been destructing Yemen, murdering hundreds and wounding thousands  and the US government continues to stand by his side by accepting the GCC inititive. What's the difference between Ali Saleh and Gaddafi? Absolutely nothing except  the removal of Gaddafi will be in their benefit whereas in Yemen, who knows who will rule? God forbid, it may be someone who hasen't been sleeping; someone with a brain. 

Genocide, a lesson we will never learn

He who does not learn from History

(Rwanda)

is doomed to repeat it!

in Yemen

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up -Nelson Mandela

A Nation without a Voice

With the continuous war crimes from Saleh's regime against the millions of innocent people and the sickening silence of the international community( which by the way have proved to the world that they very much  enjoy seeing blood.) has made me realize that we cannot afford to simply just talk about supporting Yemen, we must actively work hard for it. 

Yemen is not Egypt, Syria or Libya. The world just does not care for Yemen. 

I wonder if  the International community (mainly the  government of the United States and Saudi Arabia)  have any shame left. The Yemeni community have the right to keep and  bear arms, they could be turning Yemen upside down by fighting this horrifying regime with their  ak-47s but instead they use their chests as their shield and videos as their weapon.  Now  A NATION IS BEING SLAUGHTERED  and the International community's hypocrisy and selective silence is to heap the responsibility. 


 I am espessially disgusting  by  Yemen's neighbor whose government has been providing  Saleh with weapons  to destroy his own people. I am also disgusted by the rest of the Arab leaders because their silence signals their acceptance.  The United States is also part of the problem. They continue to focus only on the  security issue in Yemen, specifically their "growing concern for  AQAP presence"  but clearly it's bullshit. If they were really concerned they would not be turning a blind eye on the country's escalating humanitarian and human rights situation. Any efforts by the U.S.  to fight Al Qaeda  will probably now be ineffective.


Why should the Yemeni people assist  with the United States in counterterrorism efforts if the U.S. are not helping or respecting  the Yemeni people? Glosses over their peaceful resistance and human right abuses will only backfire on the United States. The current atrocities and crimes against humanity are clear  violations of  the ethics and principle of justice, freedom and human rights.  


After 8 months of brutal violence and mass murder  who would blame the peaceful protestors if they end up resorting to extremism ? I sure as hell won't. This must be what the  U.S. wants. If they were seriously concerned about the growing presence of AQAP  it wouldn't be ignoring the Yemeni populaitons demands for BASIC human rights.    

In short, Yemen, is not about  “security” or “terrorism”. It is  about a country drowning in blood.                                                                                                                                                                   CLEAR GENOCIDE & MASS MURDER  is being supported by the Arab leaders, the United States, Russia, probably even the United Nations.  What exactly for? Power? money? media? 

.  

Below is a video that is may be to difficult for some to stomach but if you can please watch. 

Breaking the Silence; #SupportYemen

The Enemies of Yemen

Funny photos and cartoons that have been circulating online

A Voice from Yemen

By ABC Sydney, Ben Millington

Yemen was once the home of the Queen of Sheba, the land of milk and honey, the place where the wise men collected frankincense and myrrh, and most simply, the place that makes God smile.
Sadly this image has taken a bit of a battering in recent times. Terrorism, Al Qaeda, kidnappings and tribal wars are what grab the headlines these days.

In 2009 I was lucky enough to visit Sana'a, the beautiful, world heritage listed capital of Yemen. Aside from the stunning architecture, I found warm friendly people and a hospitable culture unlike any other in the Gulf. I was welcomed into homes, attended a wedding party and was greeted by smiling faces in every street, shop and market.

The man who helped open this window was Kais Al Kalisi (pictured), a local tourism operator who I spent several nights with chewing qat leaves and talking about life and politics. At the time Kais talked about his dream for a democratic government and an end to corruption, now he is acting.

Inspired by recent revolutions in Egypt and Libya, Yemenis are protesting around the country in anti-government demonstrations. The last few days have seen bloody clashes and dozens killed as government forces reportedly opened fire on protesters.

Kais has been among the protesters and I spoke to him last night.

"It was a real blood bath," he says.

"We did not expect the government to be too tough to us, we were a peaceful demonstration showing we want the government to step down.

"We were faced suddenly by the republican army which was shooting us, like hunting birds. It was a massacre."

It was a sobering conversation, which ended with Kais saying he was inspired by the fact that countries like Australia were reporting on the situation. I was humbled, and hung up thinking about a unique country on the other side of the world, but with very complex problems and very real people living with them.

Listen to the full interview:

Sanaa Massacre

In Yemen, Peaceful protestors are met with brutal violence by Security Forces loyal to Ali Saleh

NPR, Michele Norris speaks with Erika Solomon, Gulf correspondent for Reuters, about clashes between government troops and protesters in Yemen Monday.

MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. And we begin this hour in Yemen, where at least two dozen anti-government protesters are dead and more than 200 are wounded. That's after they attempted to leave the confines of their encampment in the capital, Sanaa, and march peacefully through the city streets. Yesterday was the first time in months protesters have tried such a march, and security forces as well as gunmen dressed in civilian clothes opened fire, some from rooftops.

The result, one of the bloodiest days in Yemen since March. Erika Solomon is in Sanaa reporting for Reuters, and she joins me now. Erika, tell us more about what exactly set off the violence yesterday and what's been going on today.

ERIKA SOLOMON: Well, protesters had for weeks been discussing a need to escalate the situation. They've been languishing in their protest camps for months, having small protests but not really pushing in any way to either get the government's attention or, say, media attention, and they felt that they needed to recapture the momentum that they had lost. So they started a march outside of the usual confines of where they are known to protest. The city of Sanaa is divided right now. Part of it is under control by the defected troops of General Ali Mohsen who threw his weight behind protesters several months ago, and the rest of the city is still controlled by government forces.

So they went into an area that was considered the dividing line between these two sides. They knew that this might cause violence, but they thought it was worth the risk in order to try and push through what has been months of a very, very frustrating political stalemate for them.

NORRIS: And, Erika, what's been happening there today?

SOLOMON: The protesters did manage to take some of this area on the dividing line, which I described to you, and they camped out there overnight. Very early in the morning, there was large explosions and gunfire. What he heard from witnesses, as well as from a Reuters cameraman nearby, was that they saw people shooting from the rooftops, and they believe they were government forces. The protesters started fleeing. And as the day went on, it went from something of protesters being attacked to clashes between the defected troops and the government forces.

And it became a kind of military confrontation, which was something, I think, that all sides in Sanaa and in Yemen were concerned about happening. This is something that they wanted to avoid, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be keen to try and step away from as soon as they can.

NORRIS: Who were these protesters? Are they mainly young people?

SOLOMON: I was in the field hospital today. I saw a 10-month-old child, and I saw, you know, 70-year-old men in this area where the protesters are. And you have families, high school students. They're very much driven by a spirit created by the university students who started this protest earlier on in January and February.

NORRIS: What was the scene like at the field hospital that you visited?

SOLOMON: It was very traumatic. And they don't have a lot of space. They're working out of a mosque. And, obviously, that's not the same as having a hospital. So their doctors seemed pretty well organized. They had a system for bringing in the wounded, but they were just coming in so quickly you just have streams of five and 10 and 15 wounded people being rushed in on stretchers or on motorbikes and just being laid out on the floor as they quickly try to pull out bullets and so on. And then in one corner of the room, they were laying out the dead, and obviously, the scene there was - is quite difficult. Families were huddled around praying and crying.

NORRIS: Now, as this was taking place, the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, had met with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia. Is it expected that he will address his countrymen at some point as this is going on?

SOLOMON: What I'm hearing actually right before I got on the phone with you is that they might have agreed a kind of cease-fire. It's not quite clear to me yet that that deal has been finalized. I think it really depends on how tonight goes in terms of diplomatic negotiations.

NORRIS: Erika Solomon is a reporter for Reuters. She was speaking to us from Sanaa in Yemen. Erika, thank you very much.

SOLOMON: Thank you.

Water, Peace and the Arab Spring

What are your thoughts?

In 1994, Yale World Fellow Gidon Bromberg co-founded EcoPeace, a unique regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts in the troubled Middle East, and in 1997 led the entry of the organization into Friends of the Earth International. He has spearheaded the advocacy campaigns of the organization both in Israel and internationally and developed the cross border community peace building program "Good Water Neighbors" that is seen as a model for other programs in conflict areas. Bromberg speaks regularly on water, peace, and security issues, including at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development, the US House of Representatives, the European Parliament, and the UN High Level Panel on Security. He is a member of the EastWest Institute's International Task Force for Preventive Diplomacy. Bromberg was named an 'Environmental Hero' by TIME Magazine, and was, with his co-directors, awarded the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Julia Bacha: Pay attention to nonviolence

I love julia Bacha

What Suprises the Dalai Lama

Someone asked the Dalai Lama, what surprises him most.

This was his response:

"Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived."

New beginnings : How you can change the world

Don't underestimate the power of YOUR voice. YOU are the key to creating change and raising awareness.

I will bring peace to the world, will YOU?

A beautiful voice witth a moving story

This guy is amazing This is the kind of love and beauty I hope to always be surrounded by. What an inspirational figure.

Anna Hathaway raps, REALLY!?

Anne Hathway shows off her skills to Conan Lil Wayne's got nothing on Anne Hathaway, i'd buy her albums, just sayin haha