Monday 10 January 2011

death of a non-violent protester

i got back home yesterday, after spending 3 nights in napier with my family. it was a lovely time away, swimming at westshore beach & taking a trip out to cape kidnappers to see the gannett colonies. the latter was just wonderful. we rode on the back of a tractor across the shoreline, and often through the water. it was a bright sunny day, with lovely views.

i'm back to a glut of emails & a list of things to get done this week. while i'm not yet back at work, there's plenty to keep me busy, with accounts & gst returns to get done for the various NGO's i work with. also, our muslim women's conference is coming up in 2 weeks & there will be plenty of work to be done for that. we've managed to get an australian speaker,
silma ihram, as our keynote. i'm really looking forward to meeting her, as she appears to have achieved a whole lot, and i love the description of her on the wikipedia page as "erin brokovitch in a hijab".

i'd like to include a tribute i received by email last week to another muslim woman who passed away recently:


EDITOR’S NOTE: Please light a candle in Jawaher’s memory and leave a few words of condolences by going to our
web page. When you enter the website, just follow the instructions and don’t forget to initial your candle and enter the group initial JAR so the candles for Jawaher can be all grouped together. These cyber candles can be lit from anywhere in the world. This can be our way of showing solidarity with all the women who will gather in Bil’in on Friday, 7 January 2011 at 11.30 to express grief and sorrow for the loss of the gentle and courageous Palestinian woman and nonviolent resister, Jawaher Abu Rahma. The call has gone out: “Our goal is that our silent vigil will be heard like thunder around the world. We shall pay homage to Jawaher and all Palestinian women who struggle for their people’s right to freedom and self determination and for the end of the occupation, in order to enjoy the rights that all human beings are entitled to.”

You can read more about Jawaher’s death from the deadly tear gas used by the Israeli army during the nonviolent demonstration against the Apartheid Wall and the theft of Palestinian land on Friday 31 December 2010 on our
website.

there are more details of the attack
here, which is taken directly from the new york times.

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