theindependent--2019-12-15--'Our community was dying out': Yazidis struggle to find an identity in post-Soviet Georgia

'Our community was dying out': Yazidis struggle to find an identity in post-Soviet Georgian landscape

After a lull during Soviet times, and ostracised due to Christianity’s dominance, the Yazidi faith is now attempting to re-establish itself in the fabric of Georgian life.  “Back then, we didn’t need religion. Our god was Lenin,” says Sheikh Nuri Shekhnamati, a priest at the Quba Sultan Ezid, a Yazidi temple in the capital Tbilisi.  “People were more humane. With today’s wild capitalism we struggle to live day by day. The time came for religion. Religion can help. Everyone needs some kind of spirituality,” he adds.  The temple sits on top of a hill in the outskirts of Tbilisi, surrounded by crowded Soviet-era housing blocks on one side, and a ghostly new Chinese-built mall, the biggest one in the Caucasus, on the other. It was a typically quiet day at the temple, and Shekhnamati made us tea and offered us sweets as we sat with him in the kitchen.  Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority from northern Iraq. While most of the population lives in Iraq today, there were two waves of migration to the Caucasus in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some Yazidis identify as ethnic Kurds, others as ethnic Yazidis, and this debate can be divisive.  The monotheistic religion has no holy book, and its sacred texts are orally transmitted by members of their priestly castes, such as Shekhnamati, who was born into a family of priests known as sheikhs. Yazidi priests do not formally teach the religion to their followers and many sacred texts are hidden from non-Yazidis. Until recently, no temples were built outside of the Yazidi heartland in Iraq.  In the Caucasus, the modernising drive of the Soviet Union caused many members of the priesthood to lose this orally transmitted knowledge.  “I started learning the texts later in life, in my mid-20s. I was more interested in my professional career, but people kept asking me to learn the religion,” he recalls. “I had no right to refuse: I was the son of a sheikh.”  Instead, he studied electrical mechanics for trains and subway systems, and in his last job before joining the temple, he fixed street lamps. He lives with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, in a flat in an old housing blocks not far from the temple.  Social upheavals and political transitions took their toll on the survival of the Yazidi religion in Georgia. “Our community was dying out,” says Dimitri Pirbari, the temple’s spiritual leader. But mobilising a community with no book, no institutions and no centralised structure proved the biggest challenge.  At the time of its launch in 2015, the Quba Sultan Ezid was the second Yazidi temple in the world outside of Iraq. With its single spire and bare-walled interiors, it is modelled on the mausoleum of Lalish, the main Yazidi pilgrimage site in northern Iraq.  On the other side of the grounds, a pyramid-shaped glass building serves as a centre for Georgian and Kurdish language lessons, and a recently launched course teaching the Yazidi religion and its history to any member of the public. Hanging on the centre’s walls are archival photographs, including an image of Tbilisi’s Yazidi community at a march commemorating the anniversary of the October Revolution in 1938.  It was the response from a community that had come dangerously close to losing its presence in Georgian society.  “The process of assimilation is really evident in our community. We’re losing our language and our religion. We don’t have a homeland,” says Lili Safarova, a Tbilisi-based women’s and education activist who was involved in the initial stages of the temple’s creation. “We needed a space to continue our language and our traditions.”  At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Yazidi community of Georgia numbered around 33,000. The rise of Georgian nationalism and ongoing civil war in the 1990s caused waves of migration to Russian cities and later to Europe. By 2002, the number of Yazidis living in Georgia had halved to around 18,000. In 2014, fewer than 12,000 remained.  In religiously conservative Georgia, where the Orthodox Church’s influence plays a powerful political role, the creation of a dedicated space for the Yazidi community in Tbilisi took more than two decades from conception to reality.  The idea of a temple and cultural centre was floated as early as the 1990s. The land was then acquired from the government in 2007, and permission to build a temple was granted by Patriarch Ilya II in 2010. The Yazidi religion was officially recognised as a public entity in Georgia in 2011.  Political reforms after Georgia’s Rose Revolution of 2003 facilitated the process. Georgia is home to many minorities and religions, and Tbilisi has historically been a diverse and cosmopolitan hub city.  But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and until 2005, no religion other than the Georgian Orthodox Church could be officially registered. Amendments to the civil code in 2011 allowed minority religions to register as public entities.  “We advocated the issue because it gave legal status to all our organisations. We did not have this possibility before,” says Agit Mirzoev, a Tbilisi-based public defence lawyer who is involved in the temple and spiritual council’s registration.  The Soviet Union suppressed religion, but it supported the Kurdish culture and folklore of Tbilisi’s Kurdish-speaking community, who were predominantly Yazidis. In Tbilisi, a Kurdish theatre run by the community held regular performances, but it stopped operating in the early 1990s, after Georgia’s independence.  “The theatre was a source of pride for us at the time. For the children of a generation that was predominantly illiterate, to be writing records of our culture and history...” recalled Vitali Nabiev, a Yazidi journalist from Tbilisi who now lives in France.  With the absence of a dedicated space, Kurdish nationalist groups from the Middle East filled the vacuum. The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) had an office in Tbilisi and was active in the 1990s, transmitting extremist literature, recruiting fighters and facilitating travel to Turkey through Moscow. Leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq also supported cultural activities such as radio stations and newspapers, and made donations to the existing temple.  Today, while inter-ethnic tensions have softened in Georgia since the 1990s, economic and social issues remain for the Yazidi community.  “I can count on my fingers the number of Georgian Yazidis who’ve come out of poverty. Many do not pursue a higher education. Until recently, many did not have faith in the electoral system and did not participate in elections,” says Isko Daseny, a Georgian parliamentarian and member of the Yazidi community.  But the biggest threat for the community is the loss of identity.  Since its opening, the activity at the temple has trickled slowly into the lives of Yazidis in Tbilisi. “I come here three to four times a month with my family,” says Rafael Adjamyan, a young resident of Tbilisi. “When I was growing up we could only dream of a space like this. There are a lot of rumours about our religion. We needed a space to get accurate and reliable information.”  But overall visitor figures are unclear. “It’s difficult to say how many people come,” says Shekhnamati, “On a busy day, we get up to 100 people. But yesterday nobody came, and the day before that 20 visitors.” Of the approximately 1,000 Yazidis he estimates live in the vicinity, only some 300 visit the temple.  Rather, the traditions of Yazidis in the Caucasus are centred around the community’s homes and cemeteries. The religion’s strict caste system assigns the role of religious teachings to pirs, which means elder in Kurdish, or sheikhs. Every Yazidi has their own pir and sheikh, including the pirs and sheikhs themselves. Yazidis visited leaders from the priestly castes of pirs and sheikhs for weddings, funerals and other holy days.  “For spiritual matters, I go to my pir,” says Emma Kalashov, a retired cleaner living in one of the vast housing units of Varkatili, a neighbourhood near the temple – “My pir is my temple.” Her visits to the physical temple, she adds, are limited. “I may go four times a year, when my family visits from abroad.”  Emma’s pir, Edik Pir Drbes, lives in her building. On the door to his flat is a small sticker of Lalish’s conical spires, and large peacock-shaped ornaments line the walls and shelves of his living room.  And though Yazidis do not have a book, Pir Drbes has a large peacock-emblazoned book-shaped case high on a plinth against the back wall.  Pir Drbes describes the mysticism at the heart of the religion and its language. “Nobody can see God Himself. I associate God with the sun, and I pray facing the sun,” he explains.  In addition, Yazidis believe in seven holy beings, headed by an archangel, Tawus Melak, who takes the form of a peacock. “Melak tawus is an angel coming from God – he has power and reigns on everything on earth,” says Pir Drbes. “After God the most respected persons in our culture are our parents.”  “No religious event can happen without the presence of a pir or sheikh,” explains Pir Drbes. “We are there for weddings and funerals to recite prayers. With our own hands, we sew white clothes for the dead before they are buried.”  Pir Drbes was initiated to the religion’s sacred oral traditions from a young age. “I was 10 years old. My father died young so my brother taught me what he had learnt from our grandfather. I visited families with him and learnt that way.”  In his bedroom, he shows us his ster, a shrine consisting of stacked mattresses, which is found in Yazidi households in the Caucasus. Academics believe this tradition emerged out of the originally nomadic nature of Caucasian Yazidis.  “When we were cut off from Iraq we created these domestic altars in our homes. When the sun is not visible, I open this shrine and pray to it,” he explains.  He pulls out a plastic bag from within the mattress heap, which contains soil, cotton string and pearl-shaped clay balls gathered from his recent trips to Iraq.  Pirs and sheikhs typically receive alms from their followers. But grinding poverty in the Caucasus caused many to turn away from spiritual matters. “The church charges very high fees for its services, but as Yazidi priests, we take whatever our followers can give us,” says Pir Drbes.  As he drove us through the sprawl of housing blocks to the local cemetery in his 4x4 German car with leather seats, with the letters “P – IR” on his license plate, Pir Drbes explained that he does not have a job other than his spiritual role. “I prefer to serve the people.”  By contrast to the informal, unwritten traditions described by Pir Drbes, the leaders at the temple pursue an active spiritual, educational and political strategy. “Our first aim is to be recognised as an institutionalised religion. Without this it’s difficult to dialogue with other religions,” explains Pirbari.  The Yazidi religion has no institutional hierarchy. There is one political leader, the Mir, and important religious figures who form a spiritual council in Iraq. But when the Yazidi Spiritual Council of Georgia was registered in 2011, it appointed its own spiritual leader.  Pirbari dresses in white cotton robes and headband, typical of a priest in rural Iraq. Greeting us in the reception room, he recalls his nostalgia for Dighomi, the neighbourhood which he grew up in Tbilisi. Like much of the city, it has been affected by ongoing uncontrolled construction. On the wall behind him is a painting of the mausoleum at Lalish, and on the adjacent wall hangs a northern Iraqi rug.  “I want the spiritual content of the Yazidi religion to inform the daily lives of Yazidis,” explains Pirbari.  As such, the temple has revived rituals which did not previously exist among Yazidis in the Caucasus. Pirbari has strong connections to the spiritual leadership in Iraq, and In June this year, the temple brought in qewwals, members of the Yazidi spiritual castes whose role is to sing sacred texts, and who only live in Lalish, Iraq. “There was a lot of admiration for them,” says Pirbari, “It is one of the ways in which we are trying to recover our traditions.”  Some view the temple in Tbilisi as a contemporary expression of the religion. “They’re trying to create a ‘modern’ form of Yazidism that could be seen as more ‘systematic’ and understandable to the younger generation,” says Khanna Omarkhali, an Associate Professor at the Free University of Berlin and a member of the Yazidi priesthood.  The temple extols the view that Yazidis are a distinct ethnic group. “My studies in ethnology show Yazidism is an ethnicity and a religion. We are not Kurds. We have the right to self-identify,” insists Pirbari.  This is partly in response to the fact that, for decades, the Yazidi community has been caught between different parties of the Kurdish struggle in the Middle East. “We don’t want to be part of these political games,” says Mirzoev. “We have peaceful aims as citizens of Georgia.”  The educational centre, named the “Theology Academy”, teaches religion, language and history, and is the first of its kind in the world. A Department of Yazidism, headed by Pirbari, will soon be created at the Tbilisi’s Ilya State University’s Institute of Oriental Studies.  But given the oral nature of the religion, this educational dimension is also met with scepticism.“Yazidi priests do not learn their religion in schools. We inherit the knowledge from our parents and grandparents,” says Reza Muradyan, a young priest and shop owner from Tbilisi. “We can’t talk – at least until now – about an explicit theology among Yazidis, first of all because they do not have a sacred writ,” adds Omarkhali.  The spiritual council also acts as a political engine. “We are more mobilised and self-organised than ever. We have good communications with the government and with other religions in Georgia, especially the Georgian Orthodox Church,” adds Mirzoev.  “We want to be part of a process which facilitates peaceful relationships between different world religions,” says Pirbari. “We openly declare humane values of mutual respect and love.” Pirbari has facilitated meetings for the Yazidi spiritual leadership in Iraq with the Vatican and Russian patriarchate, among others. Above his desk in his office is a gold-plated, peacock-shaped relief sculpture which was a gift from the Iranian cleric Ayatollah Shahrestani.  But the temple’s emphasis on the religious aspects of the Yazidi culture has attracted criticism from some quarters.  In downtown Tbilisi’s House of Friendship, a Soviet-era administrative building with an elaborate modernist facade, Safarova, the women’s activist, describes her concerns: “Today the space is run by a small number of religious persons who have alienated the young in particular.”  “The original idea was to have a public cultural centre and a small temple. The young would come to the cultural centre, join its educational activities, and also learn about their religion.” he says, when we met him in his office in the northern suburbs of the capital.  Partly, the view that Yazidis are an ethno-religion has been divisive. “Our critics are an old guard red star intelligentsia, most of them atheists,” says Pirbari, referring to the fact that the Soviet Union supported Kurdish culture and banned religion. Nonetheless, respondents interviewed for this article of all ages identified as ethnic Yazidis, Kurds or Yazidi-Kurds.  Further, many members of the community are not recognised by the temple, including Georgian Yazidis from mixed marriages. “We welcome everyone, from every religion at our temple,” says Pirbari. “But according to our religion, we cannot recognise Yazidis that come from mixed marriages as Yazidis. We will welcome them as members of another religion.”  “We are fighting for survival, not radicalism,” insists Pirbari. But others disagreed. “We wanted a space that would unite us,” says Safarova, “but now we are divided.”  Read the first part in the series, here: Emerging from Isis genocide, Yazidis in Armenia open religion’s biggest ever temple


theindependent--2019-12-25--I'm a humanist who loves Christmas – for me, it's much more than a religious event

Although Christians are today celebrating an important religious event, the majority of us in Britain are celebrating something more timeless.  Every human being so far has been born and died on earth, and its landscapes and seasons define us. In the cold midwinter of our Northern hemisphere, this is as true as anywhere else and ever since our ancestors first brought in green branches to remind themselves of the spring that would come again and lit fires to warm the darkness, this time of year has been a festival.  Research last year found that (in order) the five most important things to people about Christmas are: spending time with family; giving presents to friends/family; eating Christmas food and drinking Christmas drinks; and putting up Christmas lights and decorations.  These are pretty much the things that matter to me about this time of year, and what they all represent is warmth in the coldness: being with those we love and celebrating that togetherness with food and light and generosity.  This is also the time of year when people give most to charity and that’s an important part of Christmas to me too – a heightened sense of empathy and compassion as we enjoy the things that so many do not have.  What’s true of Christmas is also true of life. Much of our fulfilment, meaning and purpose can come from others, from our relationships with friends and family. These are the sort of relationships that are affirmed at this time of year by being together, by giving and receiving gifts, cards and good wishes. And the meaning that we find in our relationships with family and friends is not the only meaning we can find in people.  If we extend our thinking and our sympathies, we can see ourselves as part of a global continuum of people; this continuum also stretches through time. The human story is millennia older than the Christmas story, which cannot hope to contain the grander narrative that history, biology, anthropology, geology and all the sciences of human ingenuity have unveiled.  I also use Christmas as a time to think. At the turning of the year, we can contemplate the past and look to the future. The traditions we keep and fall into like second nature at Christmas emphasise the continuity in our lives but they also give us pause to think about change.  We may think of the person who was with us last Christmas who now isn’t and won’t be again, and be grateful for the times we had for them. Or it may be the opposite: the new person enjoying their first Christmas whose future joy we anticipate.  Times like Christmas structure our lives and help us make meaning out of them as their events progress. At Christmas, we remember last Christmas, and the Christmas before; such moments in the calendar that let us look back and forward order our lives as we take stock, and we weave them – as we weave all our experiences – into the narrative of our life. Our own lives are stories, after all, which we give a shape and purpose as best we can.  Some religious people like to criticise non-religious people like me for celebrating at this time of year while forgetting the “real meaning” of Christmas.  But for me, as for most people in the UK, this time of year has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with celebrating the life we have with the people we love. The real meaning is the meaning we make ourselves – and it’s for life, not just for Christmas.  Andrew Copson is the chief executive of Humanists UK.  This article was originally published on 23 December 2017.


theintercept--2019-09-25--The Network of Hindu Nationalists Behind Modis Diaspora Diplomacy in the US

The Network of Hindu Nationalists Behind Modi’s “Diaspora Diplomacy” in the U.S.

Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump held up their clasped hands on stage in Houston this past weekend, more than 50,000 people who had been awaiting the pair burst into a loud rumble of approval. The crowd at NRG Stadium, brandishing Indian flags and pictures of the prime minister, greeted them with chants of “Modi” and “USA.” Some attendees were dressed in their finest saris adorned with thick gold necklaces and jingling bangles, while others wore their love for Modi on their sleeves. Modi gushed profusely about Trump — the president was warm, friendly, energetic, “full of wit.” “You introduced me to your family in 2017,” Modi said, referring to his trip to the White House that summer, “and today I have the honor to introduce you to my family.” While most Indians in the U.S. identify as Democrats and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party enjoy significant popularity in the diaspora — and the joint appearance opened up the potential to confer some of that support on Trump. “You enrich our culture, you uphold our values, you uplift our communities, and you are truly proud to be American. And we are proud to have you as Americans,” Trump told the largely Indian American audience. “We thank you, we love you, and I want you to know that my administration is fighting for you each and every day.” He promised to “take care of our Indian American citizens before we take care of illegal immigrants that want to pour into our country,” but neglected to mention that about half of the nearly 4.5 million Indians in the United States are foreign-born, and a growing number of Indian migrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.  With the words “Shared Dream, Bright Futures” on the large screen behind them, and American and Indian flags flanked on either side of the stage, Modi and Trump presented their twin agendas around border security and counterterrorism. “Both India and the United States understand that to keep our communities safe, we must protect our borders,” Trump said, as he promised to help India defend against “radical Islamic terrorism.” On the face of it, the blockbuster “Howdy, Modi” event was the Indian American diaspora’s extravagant welcome to the Indian prime minister for the first time since his landslide reelection victory in May — complete with flashy musical and dance numbers. But beneath the cultural gloss, it was essentially a political rally for two nationalist world leaders, organized by a nonprofit with Hindu nationalist links. For decades, a network of American groups affiliated with Hindu nationalist organizations in India has embedded itself in the diaspora by holding cultural and religious events, lobbying Congress, contributing to political campaigns, and acting as a mouthpiece for Modi and the BJP. Since the early 2000s, these groups have worked to expunge Modi’s once-tarnished reputation in the U.S., enlisting the Indian American community, about half of whom are Hindu, and U.S. lawmakers to defend his increasingly authoritarian agenda and whitewash his complicity in human rights abuses. “Howdy, Modi” corralled not just Trump and tens of thousands of Indian Americans, but also a delegation of U.S. politicians, including Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who appeared on stage to shake hands with Modi in tacit support of his government’s Hindu nationalist agenda.  Meanwhile in Houston, the prime minister fiercely praised the Indian Parliament’s action. “Article 370 had deprived people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh of development. Terrorist and separatist elements were misusing the situation. Now after abrogation, people there have got equal rights,” he said. The crowd, and even some journalists in the press box, cheered and stood to clap. “‘Howdy, Modi’ is a blatant celebration of the destruction of democracy and a complete disregard for human rights,” said Sana Qutubuddin, an organizer with the Alliance for Justice and Accountability, a coalition of progressive South Asian American groups. Behind the event was Texas India Forum, which has direct links to members of U.S.-based Hindu nationalist groups affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a fascist paramilitary organization that espouses the notion that India should be a Hindu state and its minorities second-class citizens.  The nonprofit is registered to the residence of Houston employment lawyer Amit Misra, a coordinator of the Hindu Education Foundation — the education wing of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the international branch of the RSS. The Hindu Education Foundation is known for its role in lobbying against using the term “South Asia” rather than “India” to describe the modern-day region that stretches from Pakistan to Bangladesh, and for objecting to middle school textbooks that explicitly link the caste system to Hinduism. (Texas India Forum did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) The chair of the “Howdy, Modi” organizing committee, Jugal Malani, is the brother-in-law of the national vice president of the HSS and an adviser to the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, an education nonprofit whose Indian counterpart is affiliated with an RSS offshoot. Malani’s nephew, Rishi Bhutada, was the event’s head spokesperson and is a board member of the Hindu American Foundation, known for its aggressive tactics to influence political discourse on India and Hinduism. Another spokesperson, Gitesh Desai, is president of Houston’s chapter of Sewa International, a service organization linked to the HSS. The event was also backed by more than 600 “welcome partners,” including groups with Hindu nationalist ties. Modi began fostering ties with Hindu nationalist groups in the U.S. to help build sympathy within the Indian American community after the U.S. rejected his visa application in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, during which Hindu mobs unleashed terror on Muslims after the community was blamed for a train fire that killed Hindu pilgrims. Women were raped, homes and mosques destroyed, and up to 2,000 people were killed. Modi, who at the time was chief minister of the state, was accused of overseeing the violence.  Among the thousands who demonstrated across from the venue on Sunday were progressive South Asian Americans and their allies who oppose Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda. “There’s a presence of so many religious and cultural minorities — Dalits, Indian Christians, Indian Muslims, Buddhists, and Sikhs — because we’re standing up for our kin who are facing great deals of oppression and atrocity at home, and we won’t be silenced in the face of that violence,” said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, an activist with the Alliance for Justice and Accountability. While Hindu nationalist groups in the U.S. have developed the community infrastructure and connections to organize such massive events as “Howdy, Modi,” Soundararajan explained that they represent only a sliver of the South Asian American community. “They’re a small, well-organized group that is trying to use money to show that they have power,” she told The Intercept.  The Democratic Party has fractured over its position on India in recent weeks. Several progressive Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., have spoken out against Modi’s actions in Kashmir, while others in the party have been unwavering in their support. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has most pointedly criticized Hindu nationalist ideology and was denounced by Indian and Hindu groups in response. Nonetheless, there were six Democrats among the 21 lawmakers who joined Modi on stage. Even New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, who faced severe criticism in August for a letter he wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing concerns over Kashmir, attended, waving and pressing the palms of his hands together when his name was called. In response to the outrage generated by his letter, Suozzi had called a community meeting of his Indian American constituents and apologized for not consulting them before sending it. Also present were Hoyer, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill.; and Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who last year attended the World Hindu Congress, an event known for giving a platform to Hindu nationalists, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green’s name was announced, but he had put out a statement the day before that he would not attend “Trump’s photo-op.” Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., was also originally scheduled to appear. Her spokesperson did not respond to a question about why she pulled out. With Modi standing behind him, Hoyer recited a quote from Mahatma Gandhi on democracy as “something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.” He said that the U.S. and India provide “an equal opportunity to dream and work hard to make that dream come true.” “I’m proud, as all of you are, that the U.S.-India relationship remains bipartisan, both Democrats and Republicans working to bring the two nations closer in pursuit of that goal and our common principles,” he said. When asked if Hoyer’s presence at the event could be seen as supportive of Hindu nationalism, his spokesperson pointed to the representative’s reference to India’s efforts to secure the vision of Gandhi and the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of the country as “a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual.” But under Modi, India’s founding ideals have been desecrated as far-right Hindus have become emboldened by the administration, and hate crimes against Muslims and other minorities have skyrocketed.  Links to Modi and Hindu nationalism can even be found in at least three Democratic presidential campaigns. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has received large donations from individuals involved in Hindu nationalist groups, including Malani and the Bhutada family, since the start of her political career. Joe Biden’s Asian American Pacific Islander national vote director, Amit Jani, is a Modi supporter, and his father was a co-founder of the Overseas Friends of the BJP. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s policy director Sonal Shah was a former national coordinator of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, and her father was a former OFBJP vice president. Buttigieg’s campaign spokesperson said that Shah had “helped raise money for earthquake victims in 2001” with VHPA and pointed to a statement she made when she was on Barack Obama’s transition team that she “would not have associated with VHP of America” if she could have known the role its Indian counterpart would have in the Gujarat riots.  Activists pointed out the tensions between Democrats appearing at a Modi event while the party as a whole decries Trump and his xenophobic immigration policies. Soundararajan questioned the conflicting political messages of liberal lawmakers who associate with Hindu nationalism. “If the Democrats are serious about being the resistance, does justice end at the border?” she asked. “Can we afford to be progressive domestically but fascist abroad?” In September, right when Congress came back in session, the Hindu American Foundation held a Senate briefing on Kashmir to push its perspective on the repeal of the constitutional articles that ensured Kashmir’s autonomy and the history of the region. “I’m not sure how many staffers attended, but [HAF was] already there to counter the narrative that’s been emerging from the media and activists, saying that everything is fine and the media is just exaggerating,” said Hafsa Kanjwal, a Kashmiri American history professor at Lafayette College. Republicans, of course, experience no such contradiction. Apart from the Texas senators, GOP lawmakers on stage included North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, and Texas Rep. Pete Olson, who wore a kurta, or traditional Indian tunic, to the event. At times, the Republican agenda has intersected with the interests of right-wing Hindu lobbyists. The Republican Hindu Coalition, founded in 2015, has recently taken up the cause of building Trump’s border wall, with founder and Modi supporter Shalli Kumar offering to raise $25 million for the project. Kumar has also named Steve Bannon as an honorary co-chair of the coalition (a title he shares with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich). Kumar reportedly accompanied the former Breitbart executive chairman, who has been involved in the construction of a private border wall, to fundraise at the U.S.-Mexico border.  Houston has been a hub of Hindu nationalist activity in the U.S. since at least the late 1970s, when its HSS chapter was founded. Years before Modi was even a contender for prime minister, the Houston chapters of the HSS and the OFBJP were mobilizing from thousands of miles away to get him elected. Ramesh Bhutada, the HSS vice president, played a prominent role, organizing a 700-person phone-banking campaign for Modi, said Pieter Friedrich, a South Asia affairs analyst who has documented Gabbard’s ties with Modi and American Hindu nationalists. At “Howdy, Modi,” the Indian prime minister thanked those who participated in the 2019 elections; the OFBJP organized phone banks to call Indians and ask them to vote for Modi, and some nonresident Indians even went to their home states in India to campaign and vote in the election. Hindu nationalist organizations have historically portrayed themselves as liberal social and religious groups that denounce bigotry and uphold equality, Friedrich told The Intercept, while developing and maintaining close ties with Hindu nationalists in India who are openly hateful and violent toward minorities. In 2014, South Asia Citizens Web released a report showing how the network of Hindu nationalist groups in the U.S. had funneled millions of dollars to their counterparts in India since 2001. “Hindu nationalists in America have utilized their minority status to protect themselves while supporting a majoritarian supremacist movement in India,” Friedrich said.  The Overseas Friends of the BJP was formed right before the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindu nationalist groups razed the mosque in 1992, igniting deadly intercommunal violence that killed at least 2,000 people. The OFBJP was tasked with damage control in the U.S. It has since mobilized to lobby congressional officials and campaigned abroad for Modi’s bids for prime minister. With the help of American Hindu nationalists, Modi periodically connected with the diaspora through videoconferences from 2007 to 2012, Friedrich writes in his article, while he was banned from entering the U.S. “It is in the best interest of the BJP to nurture the Indian diaspora. They are our biggest soft power,” Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the BJP’s foreign affairs cell, told Indian news site News18 ahead of “Howdy, Modi.” “PM Modi has been interested and extremely committed to make this diaspora an informal ambassador of his development agenda. They represent the Indian local community. For the BJP, it is important to nurture them along with the local community.” Modi became prime minister in 2014 and with that, his U.S. visa was finally approved. A five-person committee connected to American Hindu nationalist groups organized a grand welcome for him at Madison Square Garden in New York City that was similar in magnitude to “Howdy, Modi.” He expressed his gratitude to an audience of about 20,000 Indian Americans, describing them as “my countrymen who, having settled here thousands of miles away from India, have increased India’s honor and pride.” Five years later in Houston, Modi remained committed to cherishing his relationship with the Indian American community, despite the many miles of land and ocean between them. “Today, you may be far away from your homeland,” he said, “but your homeland’s government is not far from you.” Correction: September 25, 2019, 4:38 p.m.   A previous version of this story stated that Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., attended “Howdy, Modi.” She was originally scheduled to appear, but she was not present at the event.


theirishtimes--2019-04-02--Pupils in divested schools will not be prevented from celebrating Christmas

Pupils in divested schools ‘will not be prevented’ from celebrating Christmas

The Department of Education has rejected claims that pupils in Catholic schools where there is a change in patronage will be prevented from celebrating religious events such as Christmas.  It follows a row in north Dublin where the department has requested that one Catholic school out of eight in the Malahide-Portmarnock-Kinsealy area of the county divest its patronage.  The move is part of a wider plan to increase access to multidenominational schools for parents on the basis that 90 per cent of primary schools remain under Catholic patronage.  However, a number of Catholic schools in the north Dublin area are resisting any attempt to divest their patronage.  The parents’ association of St Oliver Plunkett’s School in Malahide has warned that the loss of the school’s religious ethos could lead to the cancellation of nativity plays and carol services.  Other schools in the area have reportedly also warned that events such as St Patrick’s Day and Shrove Tuesday may no longer be celebrated.  A spokesman for the department, however, said “significant festivals or events which may be associated with religion can play a part in the life of a multidenominational school”.  “Nondenominational schools are not required to ask pupils not to mark or celebrate or learn about religious festivals or events or times of the year and occasions that would historically have a religious connotation or connection,” the department said, in a statement.  “There is clear guidance on the teaching of religion in primary schools. Multidenominational schools deliver the national primary curriculum in the same way as all schools and are subject to the same rules and regulations, regardless of patron.”  Educate Together, which describes itself as an equality-based school model, said many of its schools host “inclusive celebrations” such as annual festivals of lights and winter fairs that incorporate elements of Christmas.  A total of eight Catholic schools in the north Dublin area are being invited to vote on whether to change their patronage this month.  They include St Helen’s junior and senior national schools in Portmarnock; Scoil an Duinnínigh, a Gaelscoil near Swords; and St Marnock’s National School in Portmarnock.  Malahide-Portmarnock-Kinsealy is one of 16 areas nationwide where a lack of access to multidenominational has been identified.  Surveys have been conducted among preschool parents in these areas to measure demand for education under multidenominational patron bodies.  However, any change in patronage must must “reflect the wishes of parents and the school community”, according to department guidelines.  Resistance to the plans among schools in north Dublin is set to raise questions over how many schools, in practice, will be prepared to divest their patronage.  In the case of St Oliver Plunkett’s School, parents have been warned of the dangers of a narrow vote in favour of divestment.  “To avoid another Brexit-type disaster, we implore you to attend the meeting. This is your opportunity to raise your questions/concerns,” parents were told, in messages seen by The Irish Times .  A separate letter from the school’s board of management states that staff and the board were “100 per cent” in favour of remaining and warned that a change in patronage would have “huge implications”.


theirishtimes--2019-05-15--Parents leaving it to schools to prepare children for sacraments

Ireland is unique in its dependence on schools in preparing for the sacraments. And, as any primary school teacher will tell you, preparation for Communion or Confirmation isn’t just a one-day affair. There is response learning, singing, church visits, procession practice, wardrobe fittings and photoshoots. All of this takes far more than the 30 minutes designated daily for religious education in the national curriculum.  Then there’s the wider question of whether the sacraments are at risk of becoming a social rather than a religious event. Many teachers say they have noticed a deterioration in children’s religious knowledge over the years. Some talk of how they end up having to re-teach students how to receive Communion in their Confirmation year.  One recalls a recent First Holy Communion ceremony where the amused congregation were unaware of when to sit, stand or kneel at any point during the Mass.  It’s clear that many parents are not engaging with church practices – though they expect it of their schools.  Society, generally, is also changing fast: more than a third of marriages are civil rather then religious, while census figures indicate that about a fifth of families of parenting age describe themselves as non-religious. Yet, we have a primary education system where 90 per cent of schools remain under the control of the Catholic Church.  It is against this backdrop that Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin last year announced plans to consult teachers, parents and parish personnel to “improve the preparation and celebration of the sacraments”.  Sacraments, he said, were not just “conveyor belts” or “social occasions” but “they are fundamentally moments of faith”.  The result – based on a survey of 1,800 school principals, teachers, parents, parishioners, clergy and parish workers in the archdiocese – reveals a strong demand for parents and local parishes to play a much greater role in preparing children for sacraments. All are saying that passing on faith is primarily the responsibility of the home, with the support of the parish – as well as the school.  The archdiocese says it is to hold meetings with parishes shortly to reflect on these findings.  Speaking to The Irish Times earlier this year, Archbishop Martin said schools in general felt religious formation should be outside schools and “we’re working on that”.  “For instance, this year everybody who wanted to be confirmed had to write, make a formal application addressed to me, again to emphasise that Confirmation isn’t a school subject, it’s a faith subject,” he said.  One obvious solution is to do what many multi-denominational schools have been doing for years: establish an “opt-in” system of sacramental preparation. This can involve classes which take place outside school hours either in the school premises or in local parish facilities. While it might end up in fewer children completing the sacraments, from the church’s point of view it could result in a higher proportion of more committed Catholics.  Another approach may involve parish programmes which aim to boost parental involvement by encouraging them to bring their children to Mass with them in the months leading up to Communion or Confirmation.  Taking sacramental preparation out of the school day, however, is unlikely to be the end of the debate over religion in the education system. While at present up to half an hour of each primary school day is allocated to religious education, a survey by the Irish Primary Principals’ Network found that the vast majority of principals felt less time should be spent on teaching religion in the classroom and more on subjects such as maths, English and physical education.  This, no doubt, will be a debate for another day.


thesun--2019-08-15--Stunning aerial shots show Muslims during prayer at Islams holiest site in Saudi Arabia as part of

Stunning aerial shots show Muslims during prayer at Islam’s holiest site in Saudi Arabia as part of annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage

INCREDIBLE aerial photos provide a birds-eye view of Muslims praying at Islam's holiest site in Saudi Arabia.  As part of annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage, millions of hajj pilgrims have visited Mecca for final prayers at the world's largest annual gathering of Muslims.  Despite heavy rainfall, officials said there had been no major incidents and the logistical, security and health plans had been successful.  Pilgrims participated in a symbolic stoning of the devil, part of the hajj rituals, in Jamarat before returning to Mecca, where the Grand Mosque filled with worshippers preparing to depart.  Saudi pilgrim Jasem Ali Haqawi said he was grateful to the authorities for a well-run week of rituals.  He said: "Nobody comes to the hajj without things inside him that he wants to ask from God.  "The sick, the indebted... such things only God can grant and so you ask God for whatever you want."  Most of the 2.5million pilgrims travelled from overseas to take part in the annual five-day ritual.  Several hundred thousand of the pilgrims were Saudi residents or citizens.  More than 120,000 members of the security forces and more than 30,000 health workers were on hand this week to maintain safety and provide first aid.  Among those attending was an awestruck Siti Haslina Yousof, a Malaysian pilgrim in Mecca, who said: "I am very happy now. It is the first time I am here in Mecca.  Ali Ahmed Al-Sudani, a Yemeni pilgrim who said he was praying for unity in his war-torn country, added: "I cannot express my feelings.  "The atmosphere is spiritual, still and tranquil. We hope Yemen will be united for good."  What is the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia? More than 2 million pilgrims gathered in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform initial rites of the hajj. This is an Islamic pilgrimage that takes the faithful along a path traversed by the Prophet Muhammad some 1,400 years ago. The five-day holy pilgrimage lasted from Friday, August 9, until Wednesday, August 14. Hajj takes place from the 8th to the 12th of Dhu al-Hijja. This is the final and the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam which involves men and women making a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah) in Saudi Arabia. Muslims are supposed to make the journey at least once in their lifetime. The pillar is obligatory for both men and women as long as they are physically fit or financially able to do so. Each year around two million Muslims from around the globe flock to the city for the religious event. Women are encouraged to go, but Islam dictates they should be accompanied by a Mahram - a close relative they would never be permitted to marry. Pilgrims participated in a symbolic stoning of the devil, part of the hajj rituals, in Jamarat before returning to Mecca, where the Grand Mosque filled with worshippers preparing to depart. The hajj in Islam is meant to be a great equalizer and unifier among Muslims, with pilgrims shedding overt displays of wealth and materialism. Women don conservative dress and headscarves, forgoing makeup, nail polish and perfume in an effort to draw closer to God and engage in intense worship for the five-day hajj. Part of the ritual involves circling the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba counter-clockwise, with their hearts tilting toward the structure that's meant to symbolise the monotheistic principle of the oneness of God in Islam. Muslims around the world pray toward the Kaaba daily, using compasses to help them pray in its direction.


thetelegraph--2019-02-28--St Patricks Day 2019 Shamrocks snakes and how a British slave became Irelands patron saint

St Patrick's Day 2019: Shamrocks, snakes and how a British slave became Ireland's patron saint

Erin go bragh! St Patrick's Day is nearly here, with events in honour of the patron saint of Ireland set to take place across the globe next month.  Recognised annually since the 1700s, the people of Ireland celebrate their heritage and culture on St Patrick's Day, with the day growing as a commercial occasion rather than a religious event in recent years.  While Ireland embraces its patron saint day by holding vibrant, green parades, wearing shamrocks and flying Irish flags more than usual, celebrations also take place in other countries around the world, including the UK, United States, Egypt and Australia.  Here is everything you need to know about St Patrick's Day, from the patron saint himself...


thetelegraph--2019-08-29--Burning Man Kumbh Mela and six more baffling temporary cities

Burning Man, Kumbh Mela, and six more baffling temporary cities

In the middle of the Nevada desert, a temporary, crescent-shaped metropolis is teeming with 70,000 people. Since Sunday, they’ve been living currency-free in the counterculture community – and impermanent civilisation – of Black Rock City, the base for Burning Man.  For nine days Black Rock City serves tens of thousands of festival-goers in many of the same ways a traditional city would (minus money, as none is exchanged for its duration). It's one of the temporary places that Harvard professor Rahul Mehrotra describes in his TED talk on the architectural wonder of impermanent cities.  Here, we look at the amazing feats of the cities (taking this term loosely) that spring up for religious events,...


thetorontostar--2019-11-08--India’s court set to deliver verdict on temple dispute

NEW DELHI - India’s security forces were on high alert ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict Saturday in a decades-old land title dispute between Muslims and Hindus over plans to build a Hindu temple on a site where Hindu hard-liners demolished a 16th century mosque in 1992, sparking deadly religious riots.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a series of tweets appealed for peace ahead of the verdict, expected around 10:30 a.m. (0500 GMT). He had earlier cautioned his council of ministers from making unnecessary statements on the issue that could stoke public sentiments.  Appeals for peace have also come from Hindu and Muslim organizations and various political leaders. India’s Home Ministry has asked all states to be on alert.  Authorities increased security in Ayodhya, 550 kilometres (350 miles) east of New Delhi, and deployed more than 5,000 paramilitary forces to prevent any attacks by Hindu activists on Muslims, who comprise 6% of the town’s more than 55,500 people.  Earlier, authorities banned the assembly of more than four people at one placein and around Ayodhya, a town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.  The town looked deserted with authorities turning back thousands of Hindu pilgrims who were congregating for a religious event on Tuesday.  Security forces established a strong presence around the disputed site and were not allowing anyone to visit the area, said Uttar Pradesh state government spokesman Awanish Awasthi.  People travelling in cars and buses to Ayodhya were being thoroughly checked at security barriers. Commandos took up positions in bunkers across the town.  Police have arrested nearly 500 people for posting provocative messages on social media in the state. Police also have detained 5,000 people with criminal backgrounds across the state to prevent them from creating trouble after the court verdict, Awasthi said.  Authorities stopped the entry of people into the state through land border from Nepal.  The Uttar Pradesh government ordered all the schools and colleges to remain closed until Monday.  The destruction of the mosque in 1992 sparked massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left 2,000 people dead.  Hindu hard-liners say they want to build a new temple to Hindu god Ram on the site, which they revere as his birthplace. They say the mosque was built after a temple dedicated to the Hindu god was destroyed by Muslim invaders.  After the demolition of the mosque, Hindus and Muslims took the issue to a lower court, which in 2010 ruled that the disputed land should be divided into three parts - two for Hindus and one for Muslims.  That was challenged in the Supreme Court by the two communities represented byHindu Maha Sabha, theSunni Waqf Board,and theNirmohi Akhara.  The five judges started daily proceedings in August after mediation failed to find a compromise.  Modi had promised to build the temple in 2014 elections that brought him to power. But he later decided to wait for the court verdict despite pressure from millions of Hindu hard-liners who asked his government to bring legislation to build the temple.  Associated Press writer Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India contributed to this report.


thinkprogress--2019-08-06--Several countries warn citizens about traveling to the US amid back-to-back shootings

Several countries warn citizens about traveling to the US, amid back-to-back shootings

Two Latin American countries have issued travel warnings to its citizens regarding traveling to the United States, following the back-to-back shootings last weekend that claimed the lives of over 30 people.  In a statement announcing the advisory, the foreign ministry of Uruguay cited “growing violence” fueled by “racism and discrimination,” adding that American “authorities are unable to prevent” due to “indiscriminate” gun ownership that has ultimately “taken the lives of over 250 people in the first seven months of the year.”  When in the United States, Uruguay warned its citizens to avoid areas with large concentrations of people like theme parks, shopping centers, art festivals, religious events, food festivals, and any kind of cultural or sporting gathering.  The foreign ministry of Venezuela — where private gun ownership is banned — similarly urged its citizens to ‘‘postpone travel’’ to the U.S. in light of ‘‘violence and indiscriminate hate crimes.’’  “These increasing acts of violence have found an echo and support in the conversations and actions impregnated by racial discrimination and hatred against migrant populations, pronounced and executed by the supremacist elite who holds political power in Washington,” the statement read.  The United States has issued similar travel advisories against Uruguay and Venezuela in the past, citing violent crime rates and civil unrest.  China’s Ministry of Tourism also issued a statement Monday warning that “shootings, robberies and thefts have occurred frequently in the United States. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reminds Chinese tourists to fully assess the risk of travel to the United States, keep abreast of information on public security, laws and regulations, and improve their awareness of safety and security.”  On Sunday, immediately following the second mass shooting in less than 24 hours, the Japanese consulate in Detroit issued a warning for tourists in the United States, describing America as a “gun society.”  “Japanese residents should be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States, a gun society, and continue to pay close attention to safety measures,” the statement read.  Japan is often viewed by most gun control experts as a model country for eliminating gun deaths. Despite being a country of over 127 million people, yearly gun deaths average around 10 a year.  To own a gun in Japan, a citizen must go through a lengthy process that includes an all-day class, a written test, and they must achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Both the class and exam must be retaken every three years. They then must pass a mental health evaluation conducted in a hospital, and pass a criminal background check where friends and family are interviewed. Only shotguns and air rifles can be purchased, no handguns.  The deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas, in particular will likely have international implications. The Mexican government has vowed to take legal action against the United States for failing to protect its citizens after eight of its citizens were among the over 20 dead. The Mexican Foreign Ministry called the attack in El Paso a “terrorist act against innocent Mexicans.”  Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that seven Mexican nationals had died in the El Paso shooting over the weekend. It has been corrected to note that eight Mexican nationals were killed in the attack.


unian--2019-07-28--Some 15000 people take part in Kyivan Rus Christianization celebration no incidents reported

Some 15,000 people take part in Kyivan Rus Christianization celebration, no incidents reported

The events in the center of Kyiv took place without violation of public order.  Some 15,000 people have taken part in religious events to mark 1,031 years of the Christianization of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine in the city of Kyiv on July 28; no incidents have been reported, the police said.  "About 15,000 members of [the Orthodox Church of Ukraine] have taken part in religious events on the 1031st anniversary of the Christianization of Kyivan Rus. Up to 2,000 law-enforcement officers were involved in ensuring law and order. The events in the center of the capital took place without violation of public order," the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's press service quoted First Deputy Minister of the Interior of Ukraine Serhiy Yarovy as saying.  Read alsoService held at Kyiv's St Sophia Cathedral to mark 1,031 years of Christianization of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine  All units of Kyiv police were involved in ensuring public order during the religious procession in the Ukrainian capital, the ministry said.  In particular, explosive ordnance disposal specialists, the K9 unit, SWAT police, as well as dialogue-policing officers were on duty on that day.  In addition, the Interior Ministry's Situation Center worked around the clock for coordination with other specialized services and quick response to possible threats. It was engaged in the monitoring of the situation at the locations where mass events were taking place.  "In addition to ensuring public order, law-enforcement officers were accompanying members of the church to the places of their residence from where they came to the capital," the ministry added.


ageofautism--2019-04-20--Jacobson Must Die Rockland County Jews Barred from Worshipping God Unless They Disobey God

Jacobson Must Die: Rockland County Jews Barred from Worshipping God Unless They Disobey God

If even ONE Jew is barred from entering a place of worship on Passover... we have a big problem.  Rockland County has told the Jewish people that they cannot obey God, and worship Him as He instructed them, unless they first inject aborted fetal cell remains and pig into themselves and their children.  Which God has instructed them not to do.  But unless they disobey God in his instructions in Leviticus, Rockland County will not let them obey Exodus 12:  “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.  The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute..."  New York has turned going to a house of worship for a regular service established thousands of years ago, into an act of civil disobedience.    Rockland County tells Jews to decide how they will decide to defy the God of the Old Testament who has preserved them for thousands of years from Egyptian slavery to the Holocaust:  JewishPress.com - Rockland County officials desperate to limit the spread of the measles outbreak before it becomes an outright epidemic on Tuesday banned all exposed, unvaccinated people from public gathering places, including houses of worship, for the next three weeks, AP reported. The order coincides with religious celebrations of both Passover and Easter... On Tuesday, NYC health officials ordered the residents of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which is densely Jewish Orthodox, to be vaccinated for measles or face fines as high as $1,000. The same officials noted that this may be the first time in more than 100 years that such stiff measures have been used... Back in 1905, the Supreme Court upheld an order forcing smallpox vaccinations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1922 the court upheld states’ right to impose school-vaccination programs, which has since established the schools as the avenue for dispensing vaccinations...  In 1905, in HENNING JACOBSON v. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, SCOTUS held that a pastor who didn't want to pay the five dollar fine for failing to get the Massachusetts government prescribed smallpox vaccine, had to pay the $5.  The Massachusetts order was issued ONLY to adults, to address an epidemic of a deadly disease for which there was no treatment.  And SCOTUS also said that such orders by governments could not be onerous or unreasonable.  Governments then took the ruling and applied it to onerous and unreasonable orders, including orders for children to get dozens of vaccines, even for diseases that had been completely absent in their states (or country) at the cost of the price of an education ($50k and up.)  Oliver Wendell Holmes even decided he could use the law upholding a FIVE DOLLAR FINE to force sterilize women, writing in the case of Buck v. Bell that:  "...in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 , 25 S. Ct. 358, 3 Ann. Cas. 765. Three generations of imbeciles are enough."  That demonic ruling in Buck v. Bell still stands, by the way.  If the individual states did not prevent it by law, you could have your right to reproduce violently removed tomorrow in the United States, and it would be legal.  So where is the line?  If a five dollar fine is allowed by law, but having your reproductive organs involuntary mutilated is anathema to the American mind, where is the line?  Or maybe the continued good standing of both Jacobson and Buck mean that the Jews can be put back into ghettos and camps for the protection of the public, and that I can be strapped down and cut into because I am a, "probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring."  All you have to do is state the government has a "compelling interest" and shout, "GREATER GOOD!"  What say you, America?  How far past that little FIVE DOLLAR FINE can government go?  Where is the line?  Is the blatant violation of the rights of the The Jewish People to practice sacraments thousands of years old to prevent even one case of what is now a nuisance infection (treated with Vitamin A) in the US over the line?  When I say that we have a big problem, I don't just mean with the First Amendment.  I mean with the God who drowned the whole damn Egyptian Army when they went after His People.  Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear.  This matter must go back to the Supreme Court.


aljazeera--2019-06-03--Palestinians wary of Israels checkpoint changes

Palestinians wary of Israel's checkpoint changes

Ramallah, occupied West Bank - Blue and white lights - the colours of the Israeli flag - and half-crescent moon decorations adorned the Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah last week, in recognition of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.  Located between the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, the checkpoint is used daily by tens of thousands of permit-holding Palestinians who work in Israel. During Ramadan, Israel issued more travel permits for Palestinians to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque, leading to extra foot traffic at the crossing.  For years, workers would routinely spend up to three hours crossing checkpoints including Qalandia across the occupied West Bank, arriving in the pre-dawn hours in order to make it to work on time. The crowded conditions would sometimes lead to people fainting or sustaining injuries.  But in recent months, Israel has renovated Qalandia and Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem, creating more lanes and introducing automatic gates in which Palestinians tap biometric entry permits to pass.  Workers and analysts told Al Jazeera that despite the easing of conditions, they believe the new policies are part of an Israeli propaganda campaign aimed at enhancing its own image in the rest of the world and pacifying the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank.  "Before four months, it took more than one or two hours to pass the checkpoint, but now it just takes about 10 minutes," said Rauf Akram, 55, who works in construction in Israel.  "It's a new building with new facilities, so it's more comfortable for people, especially the elderly," he said, adding that Palestinian workers are able to leave their homes for work later.  Nevertheless, "it's still all political," he said. "We are under a military occupation, so all these shows of respect mean nothing."  Both Qalandia and Checkpoint 300 were built more than a decade ago as part of Israel's separation barrier, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004.  The barrier, which is planned to run to a length of 712km upon completion, consists of electronic and barbed wire fencing, ditches and a 70km-long concrete wall, dividing families, communities, and decimating the West Bank's economy.  At the walk-in entrance to Qalandia, Palestinian crossers pass through steel turnstiles, one by one, to the sound of music softly flowing from speakers. At times the songs of famous Arabic artists, like the legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz, are played.  A large television screen hangs from the wall near the entrance and an on-screen Israeli official directs Palestinians on each step of the journey towards Jerusalem.  Ramadan decorations bedeck the walls, while a voice wishes Palestinians a blessed Ramadan over a loudspeaker.  A spokesperson for Coordination of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a branch of the Israeli Defence Ministry that implements policies towards civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, told Al Jazeera that the renovations and technological upgrades are part of a project aimed at easing congestion and were meant to assist the Palestinian economy and enhance Israeli security.  "It helps with the economic situation because the salaries that you get in Israel are much higher than what you get under the Palestinian Authority (PA)," the spokesperson said. "This is also helpful for security."  Palestinian workers interviewed by Al Jazeera were aware of these policies, with one worker who did not want to be identified saying: "The main interest for Israel is to relieve some of the pressure on Palestinians. They are interested in giving us an easier life solely so that we don't explode."  Mushtaq, a 35-year-old who works in construction in Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera that he believes these renovations and policies at the checkpoint are meant to "reflect a nice image to the world".  "It helps the workers, but it's clear they (Israel) doesn't actually care. They just want to show a better image to the world," he said. "It's all propaganda."  When asked about the Ramadan greetings and decorations, Mushtaq became agitated. "Israel is using our religious celebrations for their own political interests," he said. "Even our religion is not safe from Israeli propaganda."  Saleh Abd al-Jawad, a professor of history and political science at Birzeit University, told Al Jazeera the new policies reflect Israel's "carrot and stick" approach to governing Palestinians.  "If you are quiet and submissive, then you can have more. And if you resist, we will make your life more difficult," Jawad explained, highlighting Israel's differing policies in the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel has enforced harsh, punitive measures on the population.  "In exchange for peace, you (Palestinians) must be quiet and behaved, and then we (Israel) can offer you a better economy," he added.  Jawad suspects the new policies are connected to US President Donald Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century", the full details of which have not been made public. The long-awaited plan, headed by Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, is expected to include an economic component which would encourage investment from regional powers in the occupied Palestinian territories.  Shir Hever, an independent researcher and journalist told Al Jazeera that "Israeli generals are afraid that the PA may collapse" and are also introducing policies that can further disconnect the experiences of Palestinians in the West Bank from those in Gaza, as part of a "divide and conquer" strategy long practised by Israel.  These policies, however, are not just targeting Palestinians, but the larger Arab world, Jawad said.  "It's part of this campaign of capturing the Arab mind. Today Israel is not only looking at Palestinians. The big cake is in the Arab Gulf," he said, referring to Israeli attempts to establish formal ties with some Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Oman, based on a mutual interest in containing Iranian influence.  Israel's use of the Arabic language and culture to influence opinions and narratives is not new, according to Jawad. Israel's Arabic-language propaganda, which has more recently manifested itself on social media, is a continuation of decades of Israeli policies, he said.  A woman, who did not want to give her name, told Al Jazeera on her way through Qalandia that "this is all about Israel forcing itself onto the Arabic world."  "They (Israel) are working [through the Arabic language and Ramadan greetings] to force their image into the minds of the Arabs."  "They want us to normalise the idea of Israel," she said, before quickly passing through a new and polished electronic turnstile.


bbc--2019-12-29--Monsey stabbing: Five people wounded at home of New York rabbi

At least five people have been stabbed at the house of a rabbi in New York state, police say.  The house in Monsey, north of New York City, was hosting a religious celebration when the attacker burst in, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC).  The suspect fled but was later taken into custody, police said. The motive was not immediately clear.  One of the victims was stabbed at least six times, OJPAC said in a tweet. • New Jersey attack 'may be anti-Semitic terror'  The attack came a day after New York city police said officers were stepping up patrols in heavily Jewish districts following a spate of anti-Semitic threats and attacks.  A man brandishing a machete attacked a Hanukkah celebration at the rabbi's property in Monsey - an area with a large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews, CBS New York reported. The incident happened at about 22:00 on Saturday (03:00 GMT Sunday).  "The house had many dozens of people in there," Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of OJPAC for the Hudson Valley region, told the New York Times.  Aron Kohn, 65, was in the rabbi's home at the time. He told the paper: "I was praying for my life. He started attacking people right away as soon as he came in the door. We didn't have time to react at all."  Mr Kohn said that the attacker then tried to enter a synagogue next to the house, but people inside had locked the door.  Reports said the attacker fled the scene in a car and some witnesses noted the number plate. Police said later they had located a matching vehicle and arrested a suspect.  What reaction has there been?  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the stabbings were a "despicable and cowardly act".  "Anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate," he said in a statement.  Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the situation.  "There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation," she said in a Twitter post.  The New York Police counter-terrorism unit said it was "closely monitoring" the reports.  In Israel, President Reuven Rivlin expressed his "shock and outrage" at the attack.  "The rise of anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem, and certainly not just the State of Israel's problem," he said in a statement.  "We must work together to confront this evil, which is raising its head again and is a genuine threat around the world."  The attack follows a series of anti-Semitic threats and attacks in and around New York City. On Friday Mayor Bill de Blasio announced extra police patrols in three areas of Brooklyn.  Responding to the attack in Monsey, Mr de Blasio said he could not "overstate the fear people are feeling right now".  "We will not allow this to become the new normal. We'll use every tool we have to stop these attacks once and for all," he said.  The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah marks the victory of Judah Maccabee over the Syrian Greeks in the Second Century BC and the recapture of Jerusalem.  Are anti-Semitic attacks on the rise in the US?  On Friday New York city police's hate crimes unit said it was investigating eight anti-Semitic incidents reported since 13 December.  They included a threat by a man who walked into an Orthodox Jewish community organisation's headquarters in Brooklyn and threatened to shoot someone. In another incident a 30-year-old woman reportedly slapped three women in the face.  New York Police Department commissioner Dermot Shea has said hate crimes in New York City are up 22% this year.  "You see a swastika being drawn, you see a brick being thrown through a window, you see a woman walking down the street with her kids and having her wig ripped off," he said.  Earlier this month officials in New Jersey said a gun attack that killed a detective and three people in a Jewish supermarket was being investigated as "potential acts of domestic terror, fuelled both by anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs".  In April a gunman killed a female rabbi and wounded three people at a synagogue in San Diego.  That attack came exactly six months after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history, when a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. • 'I'm now more aware of being Jewish'  Have you been affected by what's happened? Please get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.  Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: • Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100 • Please read our terms of use and privacy policy


breitbart--2019-12-25--Merry Communism: Christmas in the World's Rogue States

The Christmas season is celebrated all around the world, with many non-Christian countries and peoples also marking and participating in the festivities.  But what is Christmas season like for those in some of the world’s rogue and authoritarian states? Breitbart takes a look at their varying approaches:  In communist North Korea, Christmas is effectively a non-event. With all forms of religion banned, the large majority of North Koreans are not even aware of who Santa Claus is or the meaning behind the festival.  Despite it being the world’s most dangerous place for them to live and worship, Christian communities reportedly comprise around 1.7 percent of the country’s population. One can assume that there are some families who choose to celebrate the event in secrecy, although by doing so they run a severe risk of arrest, torture, or even execution.  Those at the top of Pyongyang’s hierarchy appear to be well aware of the importance of Christmas in the western world. On Monday, the regime threatened to launch a “Christmas gift” for the United States, presumably in the form of another missile test-launch as they continue to aggressively their nuclear weapons program.  China’s approach to Christmas is bound up in the cynicism of the country’s communist regime. Although practicing religion is unofficially illegal, leaders in Beijing view the commercial aspect of the season as a chance to promote economic growth, while attempting to use the season as a means of reinforcing “patriotic” messaging.  However, Christmas is not a public holiday in China and authorities do not celebrate it as a religious holiday, with hardline nationalists denouncing it as a Western cultural influence that waters down traditional Chinese culture. This pushback was highlighted last year when some cities banned all Christmas decorations and celebrations.  The Chinese state has recently stepped up its crackdown on religious celebrations, although the sheer size of the Christian population has made this a difficult task. Last year, many churches across the country defied authorities by holding multiple services across the festive season.  With a population that is over 98 percent Roman Catholic, Christmas is celebrated across Venezuela as the most important religious festival of the year. Yet sadly, the majority of Venezuelans have not felt much cheer over recent years, with the country crumbling under the pressure of the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in its history.  The bleakness of reality does not stop the socialist regime from weaponizing the Christmas season to try and distract from the country’s problems, with dictator Nicolás Maduro declaring himself a committed Christian whose left-wing politics are partly inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Venezuela can probably lay claim to having the most extensive Christmas celebrations in the world, with Maduro this year announcing the start of the Christmas season at the beginning of November, meaning over 60 days of festivities.  The Maduro regime has also attracted attention for its various initiatives aimed at promoting the Christmas season. Some of these include the seizure of thousands of toys from private businesses, meager “Baby Jesus” bonuses for public sector workers, and the release of socialist-themed Christmas carols featuring Maduro himself.  Supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim he has allowed Russia to re-embrace its strong Christian heritage in the post-communist era.  Having previously been banned under the Soviet Union, Christmas is now promoted as a public holiday, with the country enjoying its own wide array of specific traditions. However, Christmas Day is on the 7th of January as the Russian Orthodox Church follows the old ‘Julian’ calendar for religious celebration days.  Ironically, in Russia, it is those Christians that do not celebrate Christmas who are seeing their liberties eroded. For reasons that are somewhat unclear, authorities have over recent years launched a crackdown against Jehovah’s Witnesses, accusing them of fostering extremism. Around 250 Jehovah’s Witnesses are currently awaiting criminal trial, with Human Rights Watch pointing to the “dozens of home searches, raids, interrogations, and other acts of harassment and persecution.”  Despite being widely considered one of the world’s most brutal and murderous dictators, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has long attracted sympathy from Christians and other religious minorities for the country’s allegedly secular approach to religion.  Although Assad is an Alawite Shia Muslim, he has long used Christians in public events to gain sympathy with the West. With the country largely afflicted by armed conflict, most Christmas festivities take place in the capital of Damascus, the only area largely unaffected by the near decade-long civil war.  With Christians comprising of around ten percent of Syria’s population, those who typically celebrate the festival are free to do so at state-approved churches. Syria also has a range of its own Christmas traditions, which include locking the gates of one’s home as a reminder of past persecutions, a period of fasting, and a family’s recital of the nativity Gospels around a bonfire.  However, the extent and sincerity of Assad’s support for Christians is a subject of debate. In September, The Washington Examiner noted allegations that Assad has secretly been behind the occupation on churches, only to later “liberate” them for propaganda purposes.  The Christian Post describes Assad’s treatment of Christians as “nothing short of tyrannical,” describing them as “mere pawns in the Assad regime’s maintenance of power. They also cite statistics from the Syrian Network for Human Rights that Assad’s forces are responsible for the destruction of over 60 percent of all the churches in Syria over the course of the civil war.  Unlike their Venezuelan allies, the Castro regime in Cuba remains actively hostile towards Christmas, seeing organized religion as a threat to communist ideals. Having declared Cuba an atheist state, Fidel Castro prohibited its celebration in 1969 and did not lift the ban until the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1997.  The period came to be known in Cuba as “The Silent Christmases,” with Christian families solely celebrating the festival at home and away from public viewing. Although some Christmas decorations can now be seen around the island, celebrating the festival in public is highly frowned upon, and in the most overt of cases, may even lead to prosecution.  As the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is not surprising that Christmas celebrations are few and far between. Perhaps surprisingly, publicly celebrating Christmas is not against Iranian law, presumably because the numerical insignificance of the country’s Christian population (330,000-370,000) is not considered a significant threat to the theocratic state.  Most Christians in Iran are of Armenian descent and they observe the festival by refraining from eating meat, eggs, milk, or cheese until Christmas Day. When the day finally arrives, they celebrate by feasting on a traditional chicken stew known as harissa, or the traditional roast turkey. Although the exchanging of presents is less common, children often receive new clothes from their presents.  While worship is technically allowed under the Islamic Republic’s constitution, a Muslim converting to Christianity is considered a serious crime. The state’s powerful mullahs last year ordered a crackdown on Christian leaders deemed to be exerting “foreign influence,” in what some speculate was a retaliation against the U.S. for the re-imposition of economic sanctions.  Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com


eveningstandard--2019-12-17--Dickens Museum: Festive exhibition explores how Charles Dickens changed the culture of Christmas

Charles Dickens didn’t invent the British Christmas as we know it but in 1843 he gave it a face and a name, that of Ebenezer Scrooge.  A Christmas Carol sums up the atmosphere of the domestic festive season — that very Victorian thing — in the cheerful family gathering of the poor Cratchits, and Tiny Tim’s immortal, much-parodied toast: “God bless us, every one.” Dickens loved Christmas and wrote a great deal about it — every year, when he could — to such good effect that when he died, one observer heard a London barrow girl exclaim: “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?”  No wonder, then, that at the Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, this is peak time for visitors. The building was home for the author and his wife Catherine for a couple of years from 1837. It was where he wrote The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist and where three of his 10 children were born.  You can see his study, his desk, his wife’s bracelet and engagement ring next to a portrait of her wearing it, and the big kitchens with the state-of-the-art stove (Dickens was very keen on the latest technology) and, near the front door, a framed letter from the landlord referring to him as the author of The Picnic Papers (sic).  But it’s at Christmas when the museum comes into its own. At this time of year drawing on his letters and writing, it tries to replicate the festivities Dickens might have enjoyed in 1838 with his young family. In the dining room, where the plates commemorate his famous dinner guests, there’s a big replica turkey (in the author’s day, the turkey — like the whopper Scrooge bought the Cratchits — was a relatively new substitute for the traditional goose), and a tree and lots of greenery.  There will be several readings of A Christmas Carol, with one unabridged performance: readers include the Dickens scholar Michael Slater, who’s a big draw, and ghost stories. There’s a full day of activities on Christmas Eve. “For lots of our visitors, Christmas is the time to come,” says Dr Cindy Sughrue, the museum director. “There are several that come back every year; for them it’s part of the season.”  The new special exhibition is Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Making of Christmas, which explores his contributions to the feast. He loved it even as a boy and embraced the Victorian revival of the season. His Christmas was a domestic and religious celebration — but also a commercial enterprise.  His understanding of what his readership wanted meant he was ahead of the game in the newly emerging Christmas publishing industry. A Christmas Carol — for which there was terrific popular demand at his public readings — was only one of his Christmas stories, though it remained by far the most popular: it was first produced as a festive gift book with wonderful illustrations, some hand-coloured, by John Leech, price, five shillings. Even the famously curmudgeonly Thomas Carlyle was, according to his wife, moved by the book to “a perfect convulsion of hospitality”.  Dr Sughrue has been director of the museum since 2015 — a time of remarkable growth in visitor numbers. The increase dates from 2012 when the venue was given a major refurbishment part-funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. “It meant we took over the house next door and could move all the administration and the gift shop in there,” says Dr Sughrue. “So the whole of 48 Doughty Street can be given over to the actual museum. It’s very unusual for a museum to be able to devote all its space to the exhibits.” Her provisional estimate for visitor numbers this year is 58,000, peaking at Christmas.  It needs them; it has no state funding for its day-to-day running costs, so it relies on ticket sales, café and gift shop revenue and special events. The most important new project, funded from its own resources, is for the digitisation of the museum’s enormous archive of papers, books and correspondence. This is ongoing, but when complete (the aim is by the museum’s centenary in 2025) it should make life easier for Dickens researchers.  “We’ve always had a remit for scholarly work as well as for the general public”, says Dr Sughrue. It supports two doctoral student. The archive includes artefacts; I liked the porcelain figures representing Pickwick Papers characters, each with a squashy velvet pincushion in the trouser area.  The museum has an ingenious mix of Dickens’s own possessions and things that fit the context. Next to the bedroom is Dickens’s one surviving (dress) suit. Then there’s his reading stand, a velvet-coated frame that took it with him on the reading tours for which he was famous. Dickens was a thwarted actor and the readings gave his theatrical side full bent — in the archive are some of his reading copies, showing where he cut passages or emphasised them.  The permanent exhibits include ceramic bottles from Warren’s Blacking Factory where Dickens went to work aged 12 when his father was in prison for debt; he only spoke of it to friends.  Alongside his Carol, Dickens wrote four more Christmas books; there are lovely editions in the special exhibition. There’s also the world’s first Christmas Card, published in the same year as A Christmas Carol, which sums up its spirit: a happy family party toasts the viewer, and on either side, images show the works of mercy, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. The Christian aspect was crucial for Dickens: he wrote to one clergyman, the Rev David Macrae, that his Christmas books were “absolutely impossible …. to be separated from the exemplification of the Christian virtues and the inculcation of the Christian precepts”.  Yet the exhibition also suggests there were limits even to Dickens’s capacity for Christmas pieces: “I am sick of the thing,” he confided to a friend once. Fortunately, the reading public never was — and still isn’t.  Beautiful Books runs at the Charles Dickens Museum, WC1, until April 19 (020 7405 2127; dickensmuseum.com)


lifesitenews--2019-10-11--City abruptly cancels pro-life bridge-lighting, hit with discrimination lawsuit

October 10, 2019 (Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms) — The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF.ca) has filed a court application on behalf of the Alberta March for Life Association (AMLA) and Jerry Pasternak against the City of Edmonton over its decision to cancel a scheduled lighting of the High Level Bridge in colours chosen by AMLA.  Operated by the City of Edmonton, the High Level Bridge is outfitted with 60,000 programmable lights, lit every day in the morning and evening. Through the "Light the Bridge" program, the City permits and invites members of the public and community groups to request the Bridge be lit in specific colours to reflect their event or cause.  On March 6, 2019, Jerry Pasternak, Vice Chair of AMLA, submitted an application to the City for the High Level Bridge to be lit up on May 9, 2019 in the colours of pink, blue, and white to recognize the March for Life. For over 10 years, thousands of supporters have participated in the annual peaceful outdoor march, organized by AMLA to recognize the dignity of the elderly and disabled people, as well as the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.  AMLA's application was approved by the City on March 7, 2019. However, on April 5, the City reneged and cancelled the scheduled lighting of the Bridge. In an email, City staff stated: "Upon further review of your application, it came to our attention that lighting the bridge for this event cannot be approved due to the polarizing nature of the subject matter."  In response, Jerry Pasternak emailed City staff, stating: "I am deeply disappointed in your decision. Can you please provide evidence of this polarization?"  The City of Edmonton has not responded.  A nearly identical incident occurred May 7, 2017, when, on the day the Bridge was approved to be lit in the pink, blue and white colours associated with the March for Life, the City cancelled the lighting. No rationale or justification was provided by the City for the cancellation.  The Bridge is regularly lit in association with various religious and political causes, awareness days, religious celebrations, political holidays and commemorations that promote the ideologies, political causes and religious beliefs of their proponents. For example, within the last three years, the Bridge has repeatedly been lit to promote sexual and gender diversity, Pride, various Islamic holidays and commemorations, Jewish religious holidays, Buddhist religious holidays, days recognizing political events in foreign countries such as Chilean Independence Day and the anniversary of the founding of Azerbaijan, and awareness days such as National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, and Wrongful Conviction Day. Ironically recognizing beliefs and causes that are similar to the Alberta March for Life Association, the Bridge has recently been lit in association with International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, and various disability awareness campaigns.  As outlined in the Justice Centre's court application, the City is constitutionally prohibited from discriminating against the content of expression in spaces it has opened up to the public for expressive purposes. In twice deciding to cancel a scheduled lighting of the Bridge, exclusively because of the pro-life expression involved, the City has twice failed to explain how such expression is "polarizing", or whether it is more "polarizing" than other causes, or how the City determines which organizations or issues are sufficiently "polarizing" to warrant being denied the right to use a public space that is available to a long list of other causes.  "The City of Edmonton is home to a diverse population with a wide variety of views, values and beliefs including, unsurprisingly, persons who express pro-life views. As a government that is constitutionally obligated to be neutral regarding the expression of its citizens, it is not the proper role of the City to elevate and promote the favoured ideological causes of some citizens to the exclusion of the lawful views of others," stated Justice Centre staff lawyer James Kitchen.  "The City ought to cease permitting citizens to use the High Level Bridge lighting system to promote their pet causes, as the City of Prince Albert did with its community flagpole" continued Kitchen. "However, if the City chooses to continue with this practice, it must cease arbitrarily playing favourites with who can have the bridge lit up in colours representing a particular political cause, ideology, or religion."  Published with permission from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.