I’m not saying we should provide a one-sided view about maids in the Gulf. Complaints will exist and some are legitimate. However, journalists, columnists, bloggers and editors need to be extremely alert and cautious about how they are framing these issues. Maids lack a lot of legal rights in our countries, thanks in part to the sponsorship system which leaves them completely vulnerable to abuse, but they also suffer from a considerable amount of racist discrimination throughout our societies. Look no further than an average mall or an airport anywhere from Doha to Manama to witness the despicable treatment of South Asian workers. It’s common enough that it’s impossible to deny.

We need to highlight our outrage to these editors who don’t know any better than to publish this propaganda that seemingly encourage racism and normalizes classism. Why push for the idea that maids are “pampered” when they have incredibly demanding jobs under little to no protection? Why complain about the expenses involved in hiring a maid when they get the least amount of compensation which amount to nothing in comparison to the average salary in the Gulf? And more importantly, why amplify these self-absorbed voices instead of the voices of victims and their families that are barely recognized? Thousands of families are still demanding justice for their siblings, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters who have disappeared without trace upon arriving to our countries. They are forgotten and dismissed.

In a previous article I took similar issue with one of the other pieces published by this same paper. Sadly other local papers appear to have been inspired to be following a similar trend. This is a grave problem.

For a publication called Emirates 24/7 the editors should consider creating a section to discuss the “24/7 workers” who work insane hours on a daily basis to provide for complete strangers, sometimes under deplorable conditions. They spend years doing this. Some don’t come out of it alive. Some take their own lives. Some patiently go through each day despite not having their salaries paid on time or in full. Some get beaten to death. Some get raped.

This isn’t to generalize and claim that all domestic workers go through these issues, but they do happen in such frequency that we should be alarmed and informed enough to take action. We should never dismiss these as the “few” cases – there’s enough of these cases that makes this OUR problem. Every single week for an entire year there’s one story after another about these incidents and yet the outcry remains largely invisible particularly in these media outlets, who instead publish these horrid stories about maids being “pampered.”

So I have a few questions for Shuchita Kapur, one of the authors of such offensive and unnecessary op-ed pieces. You think it’s tough having to “pamper” a maid? Having to provide for her the way she gave up years of her life to provide for you? Having to grant this individual who catered to your every need a decent request? Go through one day as a maid and I assure you, you will never complain again. I’m confident it will change the tone of your stories when you realize the challenges and physical/psychological pressures involved in the job. When you are turned away from public spaces, mocked, dismissed, and harassed because the entire community around you deems you so pitiful to the point of worthlessness. When the idea of reuniting with your family is a distant dream that may or may never happen depending on nothing but pure “luck” because your protection is never guaranteed.

Shuchita, I doubt you have the strength required to endure this pain.

It might appear from the influx of tragic stories that these maids are weak and helpless. Make no mistake in assuming that. Most have the inspiring courage, determination, and patience necessary to survive decades of abuse, imprisoned in a household where they are taken advantage of, mistreated and never appreciated, all the while missing out on watching their own families grow. How many of us can go through that?

It’s time for us to urgently take a stance against trivializing abuse of migrant workers in the media.

The 6 to 5 ruling late Wednesday comes after months of the court being under unprecedented attack from legislators in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party for—in their view—being too liberal and interventionist on human rights issues.

Citing security concerns, the justices upheld a 2003 provision that has led to draconian limits on family reunification and is believed to have prevented thousands of West Bank Palestinians from living with their spouses inside Israel. The provision was passed at the height of the second intifada uprising, when attacks on Israeli targets were frequent. It was later expanded to include spouses from enemy states such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.

”Human rights are not a prescription for national suicide,” wrote Asher Grunis, who is about to become president of the court, in his opinion. Mr. Grunis argued that striking down the law would bring about the entry of thousands of Palestinian spouses and that the state could not take the risk that some would engage in terrorism and cause loss of life.
Human rights groups argue that Israeli law grants all citizens the right to family life and equality and that few Palestinian spouses have been involved in violence. But upholding those rights goes against the current mood in the Knesset and public, explained liberal legislator Nitzan Horowitz. ”There is an ill wind blowing from the Knesset and the judges are influenced by the harsh public atmosphere,” he said.

The court decision makes life more precarious for couples already living in Israel in which one partner comes from the West Bank. In recent years, the Israeli interior ministry allowed West Bank spouses to stay if they were males over 35 or females over 25 and not considered a security threat. These spouses are not allowed to work or even drive, and have to renew their permits every few months.

The gnawing fear now is that in the wake of the supreme court decision, the spouses’ permits will not be renewed.”This would separate our family into two parts,” said Tayseer Khatib, an Israeli Arab anthropology professor whose wife, Lana, comes from the West Bank city of Jenin. ”I will take responsibility for the kids if we have to separate. Lana will go to Jenin and I will stay in Acre with the kids.” The two fell in love when Tayseer conducted academic research in Jenin and met Lana, who moved to Acre six years ago. They have a four year old boy, Adnan and a three year old girl, Yusra. Tayseer says his leaving Acre to join Lana in Jenin would be out of the question, since he does not want to repeat the events of 1948, when thousands of Palestinians fled Acre under Jewish military pressure at Israel’s establishment.

A dissenting justice, Edmund Levy, warned that upholding the law was a negative turning point in the history of Israeli democracy.

According to the court ruling, about 135,000 Palestinians were granted Israeli citizenship through marriage between 1994 and 2002. Twenty percent of Israel’s citizens are Arabs, descendants of Palestinians who did not flee or were not expelled during Israel’s establishment in 1948. They frequently intermarry with Palestinians from the West Bank.

And yet it’s deeply disturbing that racism and discrimination in some Gulf papers do not raise any red flags amongst its editors. Some even get away with portraying maids as killers without much of an outcry. Is it because it has become common knowledge?

Inserting “Kuwait maid” on a Google search results in a viral video titled “Maid Stealing from wallet (Kuwait). BEWARE!!” – it has been viewed almost half a million times. Emirates 24/7 recently published this piece, titled: Five signs to spot a maid about to abscond.

The five signs? Your maid acting like a perfectly normal human being:

1) What if the maid is using a mobile phone? Perhaps to connect with the family that she is deprived from seeing or having any other form of communication with. For years. But wait, no! Can’t be. She is most likely conspiring with others to run away and leave you to clean your own damned dishes. “BEWARE!!”

2) Is your maid going outside? Maybe for some fresh air? Unbelievable! She needs air? Fuck off!

3) Your maid is sick? No. YOU’RE sick. For believing that she’s sick. She can’t be. She’s a maid. She needs to work. No sick days off. Get it done. Not gonna pay it min-wage for nothing. What’s the worst that can happen? She dies? Order another of her kind.

4) Buying travel bags. Or any kind of bags. Or food or water or any other necessities. Buying anything. Everything she needs is available. She really doesn’t need much. Just a uniform and like, a banana or something.

5) Meeting old and new friends during her weekly holiday. Oh wait, WHAT HOLIDAY? Who is she meeting? They’re conspiring to steal the house. The cars. Maybe even the husband? No way! Lock her in the room. Maids only need one friend. It’s called a broom.

In all seriousness, why should these be signs for anything other than having certain rights that can amount to a somewhat better life. None of these signs are anything short of completely reasonable.

It’s clear that the authorities do not take it seriously when a worker is killed or investigates causes of suicide, which persist at alarming rates. But a worker commits a crime and it’s frontpage material – meetings are immediately held to discuss collective punishments, often resulting in racist generalizations and further discriminatory policies that punishes not just the the worker who commits the crime but all other maids from that particular country or maids in general. As an example, look no further than this case.

Of course some maids commit crimes. That’s terrible. However, it’s not right to deny that the ratio is far less in comparison to the maids who return to their countries with their bodies completely disfigured beyond recognition – or the number of maids who don’t make it out of our countries alive.

Really, who needs to send the warnings to whom? Who really needs to “BEWARE!!”?

There are many steps to be taken to prevent this endless cycle of migrant rights violations – but amongst the first steps is to stop trivializing abuse and recognizing the simple fact that maids have human needs that must be respected and protected as well.

Migrants in Libya face uncertain future:

A recent U.N. report estimates that over 7,000 prisoners remain detained in Libya. A substantial percentage of these men, women, and children are sub-Saharan African migrants caught up in the volatile transition of power. Accounts of arbitrary arrest and torture have been documented by human rights agencies throughout the revolution.
Read more.

Murder in Kuwait:

An Ethiopian maid was murdered by her employer on Tuesday. The man beat her for over a week because she allegedly refused to work, and her injuries were so severe that she suffered from internal bleeding. She collapsed after arguing with the man while he attempted to “return” her to the recruitment office.
Read more.

Lebanon: Suicide of an Ethiopian Domestic Worker in Tyr:

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, an Ethiopian worker, Janet M. K., hung herself today using a laundry rope from the ceiling of the house of her employer in Bazourieh in Tyr, South Lebanon.
Read more.

All Eyes on Rizana Nafeek:

Saudi Arabia is set to behead another migrant worker unless Sri Lanka can persuade authorities to grant Rizana Nafeek amnesty. Media outlets worldwide are monitoring the story closely as part of the mounting attention Saudi’s policies have received since the June execution of Ruyati Binti Sapubi.
Read more.

Indonesia reevaluates bans, Saudi Arabia & related policies:

The Philippine’s 41-country ban (and subsequent deferral) made a splash last week, sparking discourse among different government agencies, migrants, and activist organizations. Though critics deemed the measures superficial, the sheer number of countries blacklisted have invigorated demands for more action from other nations. The Indonesian government subsequently responded to queries regarding recent changes to its own migration policies; Commentators speculate that the five month moratorium on labor export seems to have been lifted following informal agreements between the two nations.
Read more here and here.

Trivializing Abuse:

Headlines involving domestic workers in the Gulf often fall into one of two categories: the horrifying or the ‘quirky.’ Reactions to the former – a maid raped, a woman tortured and enslaved – are instantaneous: absolute revulsion. But condemnation of the latter is less apparent, less certain. The absurdity of these stories – for example, an employer complaining about a maid using her cell phone – appears somewhat lighthearted. Wrong, but essentially harmless; perhaps the product of a “funny” law, another oddity of the intersection between the Gulf’s culture and legal system.
Read more.

Perceptions & Rights in Lebanon:

Recent events in Lebanon illustrate the importance of social perceptions to migrant rights. An anonymous Lebanese resident is tackling the disparaging conception of road cleaners; the designer by trade has posted signs throughout Lebanese streets asking citizens to respect the Sukleen street cleaners, most of whom are migrant workers.
Read more.

Murder of a Kuwaiti woman may have lasting effects on migrants:

The murder of a Kuwaiti bride by her Ethiopian maid may have reverberating consequences for the nation’s migrants. The Ministry of Health intends to introduce a set of psychological evaluations that prospective foreigner workers must pass before their work visas are approved, adding to the already extensive and expensive medical procedures migrants are required to take.
Read more.

“Workers Emirates”:

WIth his lens, Chancel captures the Gulf’s theoretical ‘underside’, the part so visible yet so often excluded from the glossy magazine features and brochures.
Read more.

Embassy Acts as Sanctuary for Absconding Citizens:

Kuwaiti authorities are receiving complaints about an unnamed African Embassy protecting citizens that have absconded from their employers. Absconding, which involves leaving an employer in some manner without their consent, is a criminal offense under the Kuwaiti sponsorship system.
Read more.

Family of a maid who died in Jordan demanding investigation:

The family of Subhani M Lurdu, a Sri Lankan maid who reportedly died on the 17th of October during her employment in Jordan, is requesting an investigation. They’re also requesting that her body is sent back to Sri Lanka.
Read more.

Suicide of Detained Migrant Prompts Investigation:

The suicide of an Indonesian maid in Kuwaiti custody is drawing questions about the conditions of her imprisonment.The woman hung herself with her scarf, her severed neck indicating that she had not been checked up on for days. Current accounts of the case are conflicting; one reports that security officials attempted to save the woman, while another raises accusations of the neglect.
Read more.

UN urges Lebanon to Protect Domestic Workers:

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on modern day slavery is urging Lebanon to address the plight of its domestic workers. Gulnara Shahinian recounted conditions of the migrants she met in Lebanon; sexual abuse, contract violations, unfair hours, and domestic servitude regularly punctuated their experiences.
Read more.

For ongoing updates, follow us on Twitter @MigrantRights or on Facebook.

Please watch and share this video widely. Special thanks to Farah Salka from the Migrant Workers Task Force for her assistance.

To understand the severity of the situation, you can follow @MigrantRights on Twitter, which contains constant updates of migrant rights abuses in the region as well as this page on CrowdVoice:

Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook:

This compilation of reports are only from the past few weeks:

A Filipina domestic helper rendered blind by her sponsor in Kuwait after working without pay for a year [Source]

Herath Menika, a young Sri Lankan maid who worked in Bahrain, recounts the story of her abusive employers [Source]

An Indian man committed suicide in the house of his sponsor in Waha, Kuwait, while a housemaid attempts suicide [Source]

Abeline Baholiarisoa, a maid from Madagascar, forced to work as a “slave maid” for wealthy families in Lebanon for 15 years [Source]

Indian migrant workers harassed in Saudi Arabia [Source]

In Kuwait, more maids commit suicide [Source], while an Indian driver attempts to kill himself by slitting his wrists [Source]

A Filipino maid in her mid-30s attempts suicide in Kuwait [Source]

A housemaid raped in Kuwait [Source]

“Raped, battered, made pregnant, then kicked out: a common story for maids” (in the Middle East.) This story is about a Nepali maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Two men kidnapped and raped an Asian housemaid in Kuwait [Source]

Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Unspeakable cruelty: abused Ethiopian nanny found at Gadhafi compound [Source]

New ordeal for Indonesian who escaped Saudi sword [Source]

Kenyan woman working in Saudi Arabia seeks assistance to leave the country due to abusive employers [Source]

Kuwait: Asian ‘dies’ in sponsor’s home [Source] while another attempts suicide [Source]

Kenyans suffer in slavery in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Farwaniya, Kuwait [Source]

A murdered maid in the UAE was abused regularly [Source]

Nepali housemaid without pay for 3 months in Bahrain [Source]

Nepali worker commits suicide in the UAE [Source]

2 Emiratis, one of them a policeman, rape and then beat to death an Indonesian maid [Source]

Indian slave who was imprisoned for 3 years without pay was repatriated from Saudi Arabia [Source]

Bahrain: 2 Filipinos working for the Al Khalifa royal family have not been paid in 13 months [Source]

Indonesian migrant worker endured years of abuse [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia [Source]

Filipino maid found hanging in employers’ home in UAE [Source]

Video: Saudi man whipping a Bangladeshi garbage collector [Source]

Saudi Arabia: Indian maid injured while escaping her sponsors who locked her up and mistreated her [Source]

Oman: Unpaid migrants reduced to begging for food [Source]

30 Sri Lankan migrants go on a hunger strike in Iraq over months of unpaid wages [Source]

All of these cases took place very recently. Many might read these incidents once or twice a week, and could dismiss the abuse as infrequent. But these are just the cases that made it out to the media. If we continue to compile such lists day after day, you may safely consider this to be a mass crime approved by society and our governments, a crime with root causes that includes racism.

Of relevance, please read the following reports:

Kuwaiti Authorities Torture Migrant Workers to Death:

Two separate instances of Kuwaiti policemen and Ministry of Defense officials torturing migrant workers to death have surfaced in recent days.

Unfortunately, abuse of migrants by police are not unique in Kuwait. Recently, the Court of Appeals acquitted a policemen of torturing and raping two Filipinas. In April 2010 we’ve documented a previous case of kidnapping and raping of an Indonesian maid by a Kuwait police officer. In January 2010 a police officer in Kuwait admitted to raping women migrant workers for 15 years and then sending them off to the deportation center. On November 29, 2009 the Arab Times reported about the case of two maids who were kidnapped and gang-raped by a policemen and his friend and then sent to the deportation center. These reports illustrate how Kuwait state officials are able to abuse migrants with impunity. In these cases and many unreported ones the Kuwaiti police, which is supposed to protect abused workers, turns into another mechanism of oppression.

Read the full report here.

Every Two Days a Migrant Worker Attempts or Commits Suicide in Kuwait:

In a little over a month (35 days: February 19 – March 25), there have been 17 reported cases of migrant workers who committed or attempted to commit suicide in Kuwait. Local papers usually provide two sentences about each suicide in the “Crime” section, and their death is soon forgotten. Their nationality is sometimes mentioned, but names are not – it seems to interest no one. This harrowing trend is a reflection of poor working conditions, abuse from sponsors and the little protection migrant workers are offered in Kuwait.

Read the full report, with countless evidence of abuse, here.

Saudi “Justice”: Maid Torturer Acquitted

The horrific case of abuse of 23-year-old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa by her Saudi sponsor once again illustrates the injustice inherent in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. In January, Sumiati’s woman employer was sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing, beating and burning Sumiati. However, this week, a Saudi court acquitted the woman of all charges.

Read the full report here.

The list goes on. And on.

Further coverage from around the web can be found here:

What does it take to end this nightmare that millions of migrant workers are experiencing in our neighborhoods right this second?

I use the quote whenever I am in the company of less intelligent people and the fact that they do not understand the quote only confirms its meaning.

But ignorance is not fun.

Ignorant people, who either cannot or will not learn, are easily influenced by intelligent people willing to use ignorance in their favour.

Ignorance is especially dangerous for the human being seeing as it is a creature of habit and safety. The human being is willing to give up enlightenment in order to prevent development, seeing as development would mean being forced to give up the well-known, sheltered life.

Ignorance causes prejudices; prejudices that are passed on to the next generation and the next generation and the next generation. These prejudices are hard to fight, almost impossible.

But where there is a will, there is a way, and I will do my part to enlighten.

The terrifying UN Definition

The trial of Roj TV continues. It is expected that the prosecutors must prove that PKK is indeed a terror organization, but in order to prove this one must know what terrorism is.

The question is: do we?

At the UN General Assembly on December 9th 1994 the following definition of terrorism was agreed upon:

“Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.”

So, a terrorist causes terror through illegal actions, the illegal actions being to kill people, imprison children, denying people their rights, etc.
According to the dictionary terror is “extreme fear, dread, horror, fear and trembling, fright, alarm, panic” and all other adjectives you associate with horror movies and nightmares.

In the case of the Kurdish people and in the case of all other oppressed people in the world who is afraid? Who causes terror and who suffers terror?

It is not the oppressor who shivers in the office: it is the Kurdish mother in the village.
It is not the oppressor who is trembling with fear: it is the Kurdish girl in the prison.
It is not the oppressor who is fearful: it is the Kurdish youngster speaking Kurdish in public.

Therefore it is the Kurdish people and all other oppressed minorities who suffer terror and the Turkish, Syrian, Iranian and all the other oppressors who are the terrorists.

The Terror was a period during the French Revolution when Robespierre and his companions executed those who opposed to their regime.

We oppose! We, who are oppressed by a regime whether it is the Gabooye people in Somaliland, the Jewish people in Saudi Arabia or the Kurdish people in Turkey, Syria and Iran, oppose!

Therefore it is the Kurdish people who suffer terror and the Turkish, Syrian and Iranian regimes who terrorize.

Not afraid of men and women in suits

Subsequent to the same UN General Assembly in 1994 this, too, was agreed upon:

“Acts, methods and practices of terrorism constitute a grave violation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which may pose a threat to international peace and security, jeopardize friendly relations among States, hinder international cooperation and aim at the destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the democratic bases of society.”

According to this, Turkey, Syria and Iran can be considered terrorists as well or do these rules not apply when you are a “recognized” nation?

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of human rights but doing it!

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of fundamental freedoms but doing it!

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of the democratic bases of the Kurdish society but doing it!

Why then are the Turkish, Syrian and Iranian regimes not listed as terrorists by the US and the European Union?

The acts of the regimes are provoking states of terror (fear, fright, alarm and panic) for political purposes but apparently these acts are justified because the regimes are nations “with friendly relations” to the other nations.

It seems to me as if terrorism is defined as violent acts executed by non-governmental people, the key word being non-governmental.

The former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said in 2005 the following: “It is time to set aside debates on so-called “State terrorism”. The use of force by states is already thoroughly regulated under international law.”

That may be true but that does not mean the regimes are acting according to the law. It is a fact that Kurdish children are imprisoned for throwing rocks, it is a fact that Kurdish politicians are imprisoned for wearing Kurdish clothes and it is a fact that even publishing an interview with a member of PKK is enough to get you thrown in prison.

Why dismiss “so-called state terrorism” and why does Kofi Annan say “so-called”?

It is terrorism and it is state terrorism. For the love of God, just look around you! There is state terrorism everywhere, “my-position-is-higher-than-yours-“ terrorism everywhere.

Every single person in this world may speak the language they want, practice the religion they want, be of the sexual orientation they want, dress the way they want, eat the food they want, dance the way they want. No one must say this is the right definition of a religion, this is the right way to dance.

Ask yourself this:
Who is the terrorist and who is the terrorized?

Who frightens whom?

Executing dissents has never been a solution to any on-going problems a nation may have; though it has been one of the oldest method of silencing the dissents. Iran’s governmental system is supposed to be based on Sharia, sets of Islamic Laws based on Quran and Hadith; thus Iran, after the toppling of Shah in 1979, adopted the name Islamic Republic, of Iran, by popular referendum. However, Iran only nominally follows Sharia and many of its principles and laws are never followed.

There have been, during early Islam, many people who criticized Islam and the Islamic government they lived in, never were they harassed or executed. For example, Muhammad al Warraq was a 9th century scholar skeptical and critic of Islam and Ibn al-Rawandi initially a Muslim became a “freethinker” who repudiated Islam. During Islamic medieval world, there were many who openly criticized Islam and wrote about it: a Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al Razi who in his many treatises criticized Islam, yet still remained a celebrated physician across the Islamic world (1); a Jewish philosopher Ibn Kammuna criticized Islam in his book “Examination of the Three Faith” and went as far as attacking Prophet Muhammad’s character (2); and many other people whom were allowed to criticize as much as they wanted as it was under the Islamic Law of the Islamic Caliphate to freely express their views about Islam and religious authorities without any fear of persecution (3).

Countless of examples of freedom of speech and ideas are present during the Golden Age of Islam that had people of different faith occupying high governmental positions in the Islamic kingdoms, such as Hasday ben Shiprut and Ibn Nagrela of Granada. This letter by Al-Hasyimi, cousin of Caliph Al-Ma’mun, says much about how non-Muslims or those whose views and ideas were different then the status quo of the Islamic kingdom, in which Al-Hasyimi is attempting to covert a religious opponent:

“Therefore bring forward all the arguments you wish and say whatever you please and speak your mind freely. Now that you are safe and free to say whatever you please, appoint some arbitrator who will impartially judge between us and lean only towards the truth and be free from the empery of passion: and that arbitrator shall be Reason, whereby God makes us responsible for our own rewards and punishments. Herein I have dealt justly with you and have given you full security and am ready to accept whatever decision Reason may give for me or against me. For “there is no compulsion in religion” (ii. 257) and I have only invited you to accept our faith willingly and of your own record and have pointed out the hideousness of your present belief. Peace be with you and the mercy and blessings of God“!

The reasons that during those Islamic times people of all walk could freely speak their mind was not because the rulers were of good character and humane, albeit it was true for most of them, the source however for the freedom of speech comes from Quran that the rulers implemented in their governmental laws. Quranic verses like 9:71, 9:67, 22:41 all gives the individual the right to freely speak their mind, as long as they are not defaming and are not libel, and of course, lies and deception. Including the chapter 109:

“Say: O ye that reject Faith! (Islam) I worship not that which ye worship nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine. Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion. you shall have your religion and I shall have my religion.”

And chapter 11:28:

“He said: “O my people! See ye if (it be that) I have a Clear Sign from my Lord, and that He hath sent Mercy unto me from His own presence, but that the Mercy hath been obscured from your sight? shall we compel you to accept it when ye are averse to it?”

So it is very clear from these verses and examples from the Islamic kingdoms that Islam protects each individual from having different mind, opinion, and faith.

Thus Sherko Moarafi’s arrest and scheduled execution is against the very system Iran is thought to be adopted and following; because not only does Moarafi have a different idea, an idea of supporting equal opportunities of education for all peoples of Iran, which Islam accepts, he also have not committed any violence and used any offensive or abusive words. There is no evidence that Moarafi is a member of any political group, or even non-political group, and this also is another violation of Islam and Sharia that that there cannot be anyone persecuted without any clear evidence.

The Kurds of Iran, who makes up 12 to 15 percent of the population, have been facing all kinds of oppression and inequality. Their Kurdish language is not allowed to be taught in any educational institution; their language cannot be used in any public and governmental institution; and the Kurdish populated areas remain to be the most underdeveloped part of Iran as well as having great problems from housing by forced eviction and to the destruction of Kurdish villages during the Iran-Iraq war that the government have long neglected.

Reports after reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been produced pointing out the government’s repressive policies and actions towards the Kurds. In a 2008 report, Amnesty International said that the Kurds have been a particular target of the government and the Kurds’ “social, political and cultural rights have been repressed, as have their economic aspirations“. In a more recent report, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said: “what is alarming in this spree of executions is that the execution of Kurdish activists, without fair trials and following torture, increasingly appears as a systematic, politically motivated process“.

Iran is not only breaking the international law of human rights, and not only carrying out inhumane policies, it is also breaking its own Sharia law that it has adopted. Iran must become tolerant to views different than theirs and respect human rights and beings. Sherko Moarafi is an activist that has voiced out for the rights of underdeveloped and repressed people. His arrest is an illegal act and his execution is an act of inhumanity that will only limit the human freedom of rights not only in Iran, but universally. The international community must strongly urge Iran to drop its discriminatory policies and push Iran to halt these ruthless executions. The General-Secretary of United Nation Ben Ki-moon must speak about this issue and bring into the attention of Iranian officials that they are watching and monitoring such activities in Iran.

Meanwhile, you and I can right now do our part in trying to save an innocent life by:

-Signing petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/32085.html

-Send emails to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Sherko and all political prisoners in Iran. A sample letter appears here: http://missionfreeiran.org/2011/03/30/shirko-action/ – and – http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2011/03/urgent-appeal-for-sherko-moarefi-due-to.html

(1) Jennifer Michael Hecht, “Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson”, pg. 227-230

(2) Norman A. Stillman. The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book p. 261. Jewish Publication Society, 1979

(3) Boisard, Marcel A. (July 1980). “On the Probable Influence of Islam on Western Public and International Law”. International Journal of Middle East Studies

”People ask me why don’t you feel vengeful towards Jews? I say I feel the opposite. I’ve made my relations with Jews stronger since this happened in order to battle racism,” said Hussein Rawidi, whose son Hossam was stabbed to death in West Jerusalem two weeks ago.

According to the indictment filed on Sunday, Hossam Rawidi,24, was speaking in Arabic with a friend, when one of a group of four Jewish minors approached him calling out racist epithets including ”Death to Arabs.” The minors at first attacked the Palestinians with their fists, but at a certain stage one of them pulled out a barber shop razor and slashed Rawidi deeply in the face and neck, according to the indictment. He then attacked Rawidi’s friend, injuring him in the back of the neck, the indictment says. The minors,sixteen and seventeen year olds, continued afterwards to punch and kick Rawidi and his friend all over their bodies while voicing racist epithets, the indictment added. Rawidi died in hospital.
The youth who wielded the razor was indicted for manslaughter, while the other three were charged with ”assault causing harm in severe circumstances.”

The death of his son prompted Rawidi to reach out to left-wing Israelis. He spoke at a rally in West Jerusalem’s Zion Square against racism that drew about a thousand people last Saturday night. ”I am starting to keep in touch with every Jew who isn’t racist. Whoever supports me, I will support him. Whenver they invite me, I will speak” Rawidi said.
”What happened to Hossam is the heart of racism,” he said.

Hossam Rawidi worked with his father in a Jewish-owned beverage company in East Jerusalem’s Atarot Industrial Zone. ”I educated him to love human beings. He had many Jewish friends.” A few years ago, Hossam studied Hebrew for six months at the Hebrew University. ”He was not the type to throw stones or carry out attacks. He was a regular human being. He was just walking in the street when they killed him.”

Hussein Rawidi wants to see the manslaughter charge changed to murder. ”If an Arab did this to a Jew, they would say murder immediately and maybe even demolish his home,”he said.

He believes the change will not happen unless dovish Israeli organizations press the case. ”I am a simple human being. Perhaps the organizations can do something. Perhaps someone with the right tools can press on the government.”
Police held Hossam Rawidi’s body for five days out of concern his funeral would lead to disruption of public safety. Finally, they were forced to give it to the family by order of Israel’s high court of justice, acting on a petition from Rawidi.
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, of the dovish Rabbis for Human Rights, supports Rawidi. ”With a bit of caution I say that it seems there is one measurement for Jews and another for Arabs. If a Jew was murdered by an Arab it would be a different charge. This smells very bad.”

”There is always racism,” he added. ” The question is what the authorities do. If there had been clear messages against racism maybe this never would have happened and if the proper steps are taken now, it could prevent the next murder. The court and the authorities have the opportunity to send a strong message or a lukewarm message that makes the next murder more likely.”

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry said the razor wielding youth he was not indicted for murder because such an indictment requires prior intent. ” He did not intend to kill and it was during a brawl,”the spokesman said.

So what is it about the Kurds that makes so many view them as negligible?

After all, the Kurdish name surely was once revered at a time when a warrior by the name of Saladin raised an army that would recapture some of the Middle East’s most holiest places in the name of Islam. And even the West and its Crusaders with all their spite towards Saladin could not help but romanticize stories about the Kurdish Islamic leader who was said to show the utmost respect to his adversaries and who advocated unprecedented tolerance towards other religions – Judaism, Christianity – and their followers.

Today, we are in an age of rising nationalist sentiments; an age where strong nationalist ideologies of the Middle East leave no room for the Kurds. This is not new. The Kurds have been short of much luck for most of history, and before and after Saladin, had become subjects of the large empires that expanded into their mountains from the east and the west. Today, similar states have expanded into those mountains as the world’s strive for power persists. The difference is that today’s hunger for power is impartible from the strong feelings and connections with one’s own culture and heritage thereby rendering nationalist sentiments that disregard the rights of other nations.

A strong case can be made in favor of the Kurds when it is about inalienable rights of people. The Kurds have been subject to the same internal displacements and encroachment of their territories that pro-Palestinian activists have argued against when Israeli settlements are the topic. The Kurds have been stripped of their language, and in some several hundreds of thousands of cases, their citizenship and all the benefits that come with it, in countries like Turkey and Syria. They were dumped in mass graves across Turkey, and in Iraq where they fell victim to genocide. And Kurds are being killed, whether by the noose or by the bullet, on almost a daily basis in Iran mostly simply for speaking out in favor of the rights that they have been stripped of.

However, make no mistakes. In the words of the murdered Kurdish teacher, Farzad Kamangar, “The purpose of this [article] is not to pinpoint the problems of the Kurds and deny the inequalities that exist among the Baluchis, Turks, Persians, and Arabs,” or any other ethnic group that has been subjected to brutality in and outside of the Middle East.

The purpose is to express that the attention given to the plight of the Kurds is insufficient. In much of the Middle East’s mainstream political discourse, which has been plagued by the ultra-nationalist sentiments of today’s age, the words Kurds and Kurdistan imply anti-security connotations. Rather than hearing and heeding the calls about violations of human rights that are ongoing against Kurdish populations in the Middle East and that should and must be stopped, the audience of the discourse hears the security issues and the possible disintegration of their beloved Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran and makes that their concern. Such is the power of the propaganda machine manufactured by the states of Iran, Syria, Turkey and the old Iraq (and some elements of the new Iraq). To them, the Kurdish question is not a question at all. It’s an issue that must be solved with suppression.

This propaganda machine has not stopped short of diverting people’s attention away from the innocent Kurds being killed by states’ military and police to the Kurdish rebel groups fighting the various regimes. It has gone as far to manufacture lies to further nurture the anti-Kurdish sentiment that already exists. The Arab World is provided with fabrications to stir the peoples’ emotions against the Kurds by attempting to define the semi-autonomous rights of Kurds in Iraq as nothing more than an American project. It is unfortunate that many cannot see the fact that Kurdish rights to statehood in their native region should be no less than the right of Palestinians. And even if deprived of statehood, shouldn’t the Kurds be able to live free from the discrimination that they face in the countries they live in?

Middle Eastern media propagates a number of invented stories that generate anti-Kurdish sentiment that are beyond the scope of this article. Yet, despite what those stories are meant to do, Kurds are still fortunate to find those who believe in justice for all people, Kurdish or non-Kurdish. The MidEastYouth (MEY) has become a platform for all ethnic groups and nations of the Middle East to voice their opinions and address the pressing concerns of our shared subcontinent of the world. MEY has shown again and again that it is blind to the cultural and linguistic differences between peoples, and instead, has a sharp vision for the inequalities between peoples. MEY truly defends the rights of all people, regardless of their ethnic background, as a true activist would. And the Alliance for Kurdish Rights, and the Arabs, Kurds and others who have joined together to make it possible, has become a model of solidarity that can exist against tyranny if we are all willing to stand together and say enough is enough.

In the past few weeks, the Alliance for Kurdish Rights (AKR) – a site with a sole purpose of speaking out against the violations of Kurdish rights and with no political motivation whatsoever – was attacked by anti-Kurdish groups such as the so-called “Turkish Islamist Hack Team”. The site was subsequently brought down and the attacks then spread to MEY and the other affiliated website projects. Despite the fact that MEY serves ALL ethnic groups from the Middle East and North Africa and hosts a number of sites ranging from bloggers rights inspired by the killing of an Iranian blogger (OR318), Free Kareem! dedicated to an Egyptian activist, and a Israelis for Palestine website just to name a few, this did not deter anti-Kurdish groups from taking down everything affiliated with MEY just so the anti-Kurds’ main target, the Kurds, would be silenced.

MEY was one of many anti-Kurdish targets in the last several weeks. The non-profit and cultural Kurdish American Youth Organization’s website, cultural websites such as Kirmashan.com, and websites of online publications such as NetKurd and Kurdish Herald were also targeted and brought down. And many who followed and understood the attacks with great disappointment are struck again with the realization that such anti-Kurdish sentiment inspired by ultra-nationalist propaganda is alive and kicking well into the second decade of the 21st century. However, disappointment must not deter but strengthen our insistence that such racist attitudes are a thing of the past and that activists and others who believe in the rights to freedom and liberties for every person will not stand for inequality where ever it may exist. As all young voices of the Middle East were silenced by the attack on Kurdish Rights at MEY, we can learn that if we do not continue to speak out for everyone and try to rid our world of racism, we will all be silenced together.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (and what may be a more uplifting proverb to conclude with): “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”