Iranians Stoning Women. Why the violence?

"On June 29, 2006, a court in the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced Malak Ghorbany, a 34-year-old mother of two, to a brutal death by stoning after finding her guilty of adultery. Two men who were found guilty of murder in the same court were only given jail sentences of six years. The size of the stones used during the execution were required to be not so large that they would kill a woman too quickly, nor so small that they would fail to cause serious injury or pain." As tragic as this may sound this is only one of many newspaper articles, video and film footage of horrendous brutal acts towards women in Iran.
These violent actions are called “honor killings” by the Iranian government. They are directed toward woman charged with having committed adultery. Human Rights Lawyer Lily Mazahery, and president of the Legal Rights Institute, states that in these types of cases women accused of adultery have no legal representation. They are under the Sharia legal system, their testimony is only worth half of what a man’s testimony is worth. Most of these murderous acts are not done by a single person. It is a town function and people bring their children to watch the stoning as a religious education. These same actions can be compared to the lynching of African American’s in the Southern part of the United States.
What is even more frightening is that women in other parts of the world who have been raped or sexually assaulted are charged with adultery and are stoned to death. As an example, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was a young 13 year old Somalia girl walking to her grandmother’s house who was stopped and raped by three men. She was later accused of adultery after trying to report that she was raped by these men. For actions not in her control, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was sentenced and stoned to death in a stadium full of over 1,000 people.
In Iran it can also be found that woman who have been married and are currently divorced, can be charged with adultery and be sentenced to stoning. In addition women who refuse to wear the traditional dress code, hejab, or if seen wearing makeup can also be punished. An interesting fact is that on the flip side of this same law men who have committed adultery are only punished by going to jail or being fined. Men are not stoned to death for adultery.
I believe that women in the United States must stand up and do what ever we can to assist the women in Iran and stop the savage act of stoning. Women need to come together and have a voice for these women. Iranian women should not live in fear. The Iranian government states that these are “acts of God.” And stoning is apart of their ancient religion. It is said in the Bible that stoning is a way to kill someone for committing such crimes, but I believe that Iran has taken this brutal act too far.
A true Muslim is neither a radical nor murderer. I believe the Qur’an teaches tolerance and moderation in all things. Not violence and domination. However, Iran a Muslim country has chosen to be a sexist society. It can be found in their Penal Codes that a women’s life is valued as half that of a man. The men in the society want their women to feel inferior to them. Sadly, and because of these Codes, women will die this year from being stoned to death and people everywhere are choosing to do nothing. I believe we must stop this act of terror facing all Iranian women today.

John Lennon FBI

John Lennon said “Give Peace a Chance”. Does this sound like a man who should be investigated by the FBI? John Lennon was one of the greatest musicians of all time. What many people don’t know is that he was also investigated by the FBI for most of his adult life. He was an activist and spoke out against the government and the War in Vietnam multiple times. John Lennon and his fellow Beatles started speaking out against the government on June 30 1966. His relationship with wife Yoko Ono was a big influence in his protest against the war. It was because of his ideas that the FBI feared that people would start to follow his beliefs and act out against the government.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono always new they were being watched. But they never knew how closely they were being watched. The investigation started when the FBI first learned that Mr. Lennon donated over $75,000 to an organization that was planning to breach the Republican National Convention in 1972. President Nixon got involved with the fight against John Lennon and tried to have him deported because of his peace activism in 1972. But the judge denied the request and Mr. Lennon stayed.
Mr. Lennon began fighting out against the war when he moved to America and met Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and Bobby Seale; they were three very big activists in New York at the time. As John Lennon started doing more and more with these three men, the FBI became more suspicious and watched him even closer. His FBI files kept getting bigger. Many other celebrities also demonstrated during the anti-war movement, but John Lennon wanted to end the Vietnam War. He tried many different strategies at different times. One of John Lennon’s most famous antiwar acts towards the government was his “Bed In” that occurred in 1969. He and Yoko Ono sat in their bed in their hotel room for two weeks singing for peace. John Lennon was never violent or rude. He spoke his mind in peaceful ways and always said what he believed should happen.
The FBI had over 300 files on him. They explained what he did daily and every protest he sang at and participated in. Dr. Weiner was the first citizen to be able to look at a few of the FBI files and how unnecessary they were. The FBI never got actual evidence that Mr. Lennon was doing anything illegal or that he was trying to undermine the United States government. The case eventually closed on December 8th 1972. The more the FBI watched him the more paranoid he became. The FBI wanted him to ultimately become a “hermit” where he wouldn’t leave or talk to anyone. By December of 1972 they got their wish. Mr. Lennon never left home until 1980. John Lennon was assinated December 8th 1980. He was a wonderful activist and musician. Did he deserve to be investigated? Was it necessary to investigate him? Or was he just doing what everyone else was afraid to do? Speak out for what he believed in.

Russia Invades Polan

On September 1st, 1939, 1.8 million German troops invaded Poland. They invaded on three fronts; East Prussia, West Germany and South Slovakia. Germany had 2600 tanks, the Polish had 180. The Germans had over 2000 aircraft and the Polish only had 420. Germany’s "Blitzkrieg” idea had never been heard of or seen before at war. These tactics caught the Polish off guard. By September 14th 1939 Warsaw was surrounded by the Germans. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3rd. The Polish people did not receive help from anyone and the Germans occupied Poland.
Why didn’t anyone help Poland in there time of need? No one wanted to fight Germany. Germany was a bully and did what it wanted toward other countries. People got tired of the Germans pushing everyone around and France and Britain were the first two countries to declare war on Germany. Russia and other countries including the United States soon followed. The great European plan was for Russia, Great Britain and the United States to eliminate the German Nazi’s occupation throughout Europe.
Why did Russia invade Poland? It was their job to fight Germany on the Eastern front and they reached Poland first. By July 1944, Poland had been occupied by Nazi Germany for almost over five years. Meanwhile, Germany was fighting another war against the Allied Powers that included the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. The plan was to get together with the Allied Powers and liberate most of Europe from the Nazis. But, in 1943 it was obvious that Russia reached the borders of Poland before the other Allied Powers. The only thing Russia and the Poles had in common was their enemy, Nazi Germany. Many of the Poles wanted a democratic government and Stalin, the leader of Russia, wanted a communist government. In time it became obvious that Russia’s intentions were not to help Poland but to help itself.
The Russians and the Poles did not trust each other. Many of the Russians living in Poland argued with the Polish people. Stalin broke off the Polish-Soviet relations soon after Stalin approved the mass murder of Polish POWs. During the summer of 1944 the Russian Army advanced to Poland. During the same time the Warsaw Uprising occurred. The Russian Army stopped at the Vistula River and refused to continue on their advance. Many people argue that they chose not to continue and help the Nazis kill more people. Others believe that they truly could go no farther. Many of the facts show that they chose to stop and not continue. Stalin allowed the killing of thousands of innocent people. This helped Hitler continue with his mission.
It was during this time that about 16,000 Polish insurgents were murdered. Over 6,000 were wounded. Between 150,000 and 200,000 civilians died form mass murder controlled by German troops and observed by the Russians who were sitting across the Vistula River. Many of the Warsaw, Poland buildings were destroyed. Germans systematically covered the cities block to block. When the Russians finally invaded Warsaw Poland, defeating the Nazi’s, over 85% of the city was destroyed. I find this historical event very controversial from the information I have researched it appears that the Russians simply stood by and watched as thousands of Polish people were murdered. Why didn’t the Russians invade and help all those people? Why did Stalin allow this to happen? Was the expansion of the Soviet Union more important than people’s lives’? What kind of person would allow this to happen?

Armenian Genocide.. Did it really happen?

The Armenian Genocide was and continues to be one of the least talked about mass murders. To this day many people believe it did not happen. Those who do believe it happened do not understand the truth and only believe what they hear. Some historians believe that the Armenian Genocide was one of the first modern organized genocides. The most evidence people have on the Armenian Genocide is the death toll. Over a million and a half Armenians died between 1915 and 1923. “The Turkish government has spent millions of dollars on public relations experts attempting to eradicate from the public mind a memory of the Armenian Genocide or at least to cast doubt in the public mind.” (http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/facts/answers.html).
The Armenian Genocide is often compared to the Holocaust. “Many of the Armenian’s believe that because of the world’s failure to stop the horrific murder of the Armenians during World War I it was one of the contributing factors to the Holocaust.” (http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=73923). These people believe if the world had done something about the Armenian Genocide and it if it wasn’t pushed aside, then the Holocaust never would have happened. Another main contributor to the genocide being so quiet is the United States Military base is on the Turks land. It is believed that if United States talks about the genocide then Turks will no longer trust the United States.
The Armenian Genocide was a religious conflict between various Christian faiths within the Armenian population and the Muslims within the Ottoman Empire. Many laws were passed that took away rights from the Armenian population. Turkish Muslims were the dominate group who made the laws that led to the eventual genocide. It appears that the Armenian massacres occurred after Russia took over certain Turkish lands. The Russians supported the Christian based Armenians and the Armenians believed this would lead to their independence. After Russia left Turkey the Armenians found that this only led to their destruction. (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Armenian_Genocide).
The Ottoman Empire was the political party who created and continued the Armenian Genocide. The three main people who controlled the government and what was happening were Memes Talaat, Ismail Enver, and Ahmed Jemal. Jemal was head of the Marine and Military. He assigned military personals to carry out the Armenian Genocide. These three young Turks relied heavily on the Special Organization. The Special Organization’s job was to kill the deported Armenians. These three main culprits fled the country soon after the Armenian Genocide started; they were found and put in jail. The Turks carried on the genocide for the next three years.
For many people it is too painful and embarrassing to talk or even mention the Armenian Genocide. Because of no one’s help or acknowledgement of the genocide people refuse to believe it was true. I believe it is a very real and horrible act towards humanity. There can be no excuse to kill or dehumanize another person regardless of their religious beliefs. The pictures and stories of the genocide help to tell the story and increase the understanding of the truth. (http://www.armenian-genocide.org/photo_wegner.html). The Armenian Genocide may never be acknowledged but the stories and pictures will be here forever.