Peace Worldwide Ambassador on Rights in Saudi Arabia
I am Sara Alavi, Peace Worldwide Ambassador. I am encouraged by the recent political decision in Saudi Arabia.
“We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society,” Saudi King Abdullah said on Sunday, September 25, 2011. His Majesty deserves recognition for his long overdue courageous decision in a country that historically yields to a very narrow interpretation of Islam. Saudi women will be able to participate in municipal elections starting in 2015.
Saudis, men and women, are subjected to the most strict interpretation. Until a few years ago, even men did not have many political rights. This extremism has produced terrorists like Bin Laden.
"Muslim women in our Islamic history have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice," King Abdulla acknowledged. In a land that its Prophet worked for a woman and has produced some of the world’s greatest women in history, it is time for permitting, recognizing, and acknowledging their contributions.
The Arab Spring is rapidly progressing in the Middle East. The 2015 token of rights may be too limited and too late in a region that is moving forward fast! We ask His Majesty King Abdullah to PROMPTLY restore FULL political rights to ALL Saudis, regardless of gender, and set all political prisoners free. We think by taking such a moral action, His Majesty will bring honor to the Kingdom.
Salaam Alaikum. May peace be with you!
*ALL COMMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL REVIEW
A Peaceful Solution for Afghanistan
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| Afghanistan South Central Country in Asia (Shown in Green) |
As of August 2011, the United States has spent $438 billion on the Afghan War. That translates to over $3.6 billion a month or about $120 million a day. The United States military fatalities have continuously increased from 12 in 2001 to 499 in 2010. Just last weekend, Afghan militants shot a United States helicopter, killing 30 US troops, mostly elite Navy Seals, from the same unit that executed the covert raid killing Osama bin Laden.
Apparently, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are becoming more daring. By some estimates, over 100,000 Afghans have been killed due to the United States military attacks. What have we accomplished? Very little, if any.
Afghans are known for courage, kindness, and hospitality. Today, the nation is uninformed. Less than 30% can read and write. Nearly all women are illiterate. Freedom cannot take root in anyone who is ignorant. Thomas Jefferson advised us over 200 years ago when he said: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
In 1980s, the proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan reduced the country to rubble, becoming one of the world’s poorest and most illiterate nations. Afghans are easily manipulated by anyone who promises utopia.
How about we stop the killings! If we truly desire freedom for Afghans, the way to do it is not to drop bombs over their homes and kill their loved ones but to help them to read and write. We can spend a part of that $120 million that we daily spend on the war to build schools in every village, town, and city in Afghanistan. How about hiring the local Afghans to build their own schools? A Taliban who dares to destroy any of those schools will have to face the local community.
Whatever is left from $120 million, we can use it to train the Afghan’s security forces and build the Afghan’s infrastructure. If we still have some extra money left, we can expand literacy rates in countries like Chad, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Please listen to what President Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”
I believe that only through caring for others we shall achieve peace!
Apparently, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are becoming more daring. By some estimates, over 100,000 Afghans have been killed due to the United States military attacks. What have we accomplished? Very little, if any.
Afghans are known for courage, kindness, and hospitality. Today, the nation is uninformed. Less than 30% can read and write. Nearly all women are illiterate. Freedom cannot take root in anyone who is ignorant. Thomas Jefferson advised us over 200 years ago when he said: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
In 1980s, the proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan reduced the country to rubble, becoming one of the world’s poorest and most illiterate nations. Afghans are easily manipulated by anyone who promises utopia.
How about we stop the killings! If we truly desire freedom for Afghans, the way to do it is not to drop bombs over their homes and kill their loved ones but to help them to read and write. We can spend a part of that $120 million that we daily spend on the war to build schools in every village, town, and city in Afghanistan. How about hiring the local Afghans to build their own schools? A Taliban who dares to destroy any of those schools will have to face the local community.
Whatever is left from $120 million, we can use it to train the Afghan’s security forces and build the Afghan’s infrastructure. If we still have some extra money left, we can expand literacy rates in countries like Chad, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Please listen to what President Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”
I believe that only through caring for others we shall achieve peace!
May peace be with you!
*ALL COMMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL REVIEW
*ALL COMMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL REVIEW
