C E B O . org

Posted 8:29 PM by Mary

In an ominous action, Iran has outlawed the Center for the Defense of Human Rights – an organization co-founded by Dr. Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Laureate and a hero for her work on rights for women and children. Iran has declared the organization illegal, claiming it did not have a proper permit, and is threatening to arrest Dr. Ebadi and the center staff for continuing their work on behalf of women and children.
Please join feminists and human rights activists worldwide to support Shirin Ebadi and her work. Urge the United Nations to support Shirin Ebadi and the Iranian government to declare legal the Center for the Defense of Human Rights.

Not having a proper permit appears to be an excuse. Civil society organizations are not required by law in Iran to obtain a permit to operate. Even so, the Center did apply for the permit when the group was founded; despite repeated attempts, the government never responded to their application.

The global community needs the work of Dr. Shirin Ebadi. She has defended women and children, many of them on a pro bono basis. She is one of only seven living women Nobel Peace Laureates, and her contributions to human rights in Iran have been considerable.
Take action to support Dr. Ebadi

Dr. Ebadi’s work and human rights advocacy are critically needed in a country where independent thinkers and women’s rights activists are silenced and a woman is accorded only half the legal worth of a man. Write to urge the reversal of the Iranian government’s decision. Join feminists and human rights activists across the world to support Dr. Shirin Ebadi. She must not be silenced.

Posted 8:50 PM by Mary

Oxfam.org, on ceasefire

Please contact President Bush and US Secretary of State Rice to express concern about the growing death toll in the Middle East, which is continuing unabated in Israel and Lebanon.

The UN Security Council has been intending to vote on a cease-fire resolution since last week. Since then, unarmed civilians-many of them children-have died each day.

A Security Council resolution would be very welcome, but it must translate into an immediate and full stop to any and all killing on the ground in both Israel and Lebanon. For civilians in the war zone, every hour, every minute counts. The people of Israel and Lebanon can wait no more. We need a cease-fire NOW.

Oxfam is on the ground distributing relief supplies. But to reach everyone who needs help, we need a cease-fire. Please encourage President Bush and Secretary Rice to continue all efforts to help Oxfam save lives.

Posted 5:22 PM by Mary

Letter to President George W. Bush

July 26, 2006

Dear President Bush:

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief, development and peacebuilding agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in the United States and Canada. For almost 60 years, MCC has worked in the Middle East, walking with refugees; partnering with local Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups; and seeking to encourage local peace initiatives.

We are gravely concerned about the current crisis in the Middle East. The humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza and Lebanon could easily escalate into a broader regional conflict. This will not serve U.S. interests or those of its allies.

As a Christian agency committed to principles of nonviolence, we renounce all acts of violence -- be they acts of terror or the excessive use of military force. As followers of Jesus, we do not believe that violence is a viable strategy for building peace and security.

In a post-September 11 world, it seems that some have elevated “terrorism” to a special category of evil, thus justifying the use of excessive military force in seeking to eradicate it. In the past five years, innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza and now Lebanon have paid the price of this militarized “war on terror.” The evidence suggests that this strategy is not working. As military might has been unleashed without mercy, acts of terror have risen dramatically and anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments have increased.

We call for a new approach.

First, we urge you to use the influence of your Office to help negotiate an immediate cease-fire and to promote direct talks between Israel and Hamas, and Israel and Hezbollah. Talking to groups who have used terror as a tactic is not rewarding them. Rather, it offers an opportunity to understand their concerns, to directly challenge their tactics and to work for mutually agreeable outcomes.

Second, we urge you to take an even-handed approach. We are dismayed by the recent U.S. decision to speed a shipment of precision-guided bombs to Israel for use in their military campaign in Lebanon. How can the United States play a constructive role in helping to defuse the conflict while supplying arms to one of the parties? The United States and Israel have been long-term allies, but it is not helpful to place all the blame on Hezbollah and Hamas. While the United States and Israel label Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist groups, many in the region receive social services from these organizations and see them as legitimate resistance movements to Israel’s occupation. And, of course, Hamas is the democratically-elected government for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Finally, we urge you to return the U.S. ambassador to Syria and to work toward normalization of relationships with Iran. If the United States hopes to be a helpful player in the region, it must build mutually respectful face-to-face relationships with all parties.

A favorite hymn in our faith tradition appeals: “Cure thy children’s warring madness; bend our pride to they control. . . Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal...” This is our prayer for the church, our nation and for the entire global family.

We realize that the burdens of your Office are many. May God’s wisdom and courage be yours in these troubled days.

Sincerely,

Harriet Sider Bicksler, Board Chair
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

pc: Secretary of State Condoleezza Ric

Posted 10:27 PM by Mary

Arthur Ross, Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations

Amb William vanden Heuvel, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and President of the Friends of the World Federation of United Nations Associations
John Whitehead, Member of the Board Directors, the Friends of the World Federation of United Nations Associations
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com UN/ - 2 August 2006 - Today, August 2, 2006, is the day the World Federation of United Nations Associations celebrates its 60th anniversary.

We represent tens of thousands of people around the world, with diverse political views, different religious beliefs and cultural values.

We share the conviction that the United Nations is the most valuable legacy of the 20th century and is now shaping the course of global politics for the 21st century.

Under the enlightened leadership of the United States, the United Nations was set up in 1945. Ever since, the United Nations has been at the forefront of creating a world in which member states together decide upon the principles, laws and values that guide the conduct of their relations with each other.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948, has become an increasingly powerful source of influence for the United Nations. One of its key concepts, the right of peoples to self-determination, has changed the world.

It inspired and entitled people in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to assert their independence from imperial rule and to create over 140 new member states of the United Nations.

Today, there are no empires. There is a global organization that gives voice and a vote to all its member states.

At the World Summit held at the United Nations in 2005, governments endorsed new principles to guide their relations with each other. They accepted that the sovereignty of each member state is no longer an unqualified entitlement, but is contingent on the responsibility of governments to protect their citizens from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity; and they recognised that peace and security, development and human rights are interdependent and the basis of international cooperation.

The break-down of empires and the qualification of national sovereignty facilitated by the United Nations have shaped the political context of globalization in the 21st century.

Government policies are increasingly determined by forces and events that transcend their borders and which demand engagement with a wide variety of non-state actors. The United Nations is in a continuous process of reform and renewal to adjust to these changing realities.

The people of the world need the United Nations and the United Nations needs their support. With changing times and circumstances, through good and prosperous times or difficult and threatening times, the World Federation of United Nations Associations has been faithful to the ideals of the United Nations.

We remain committed to supporting the United Nations as the most essential instrument for shaping a fair and peaceful world in the 21st century.