ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ – መንፈሳዊነት፣ፍቅር እና ፈገግታ በተሞላበት ወቅት

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Ebola: Africa’s Image Takes a Hit

ቸሩ እግዚአብሔር እናት አገራችንን ከመቅሰፍቱ ሁሉ ይጠብቅልን!

In the United States, some parents fearful of deadly Ebola pulled children out of a school after the principal returned from Zambia, an African nation far from the area hit by the disease. In Geneva, a top U.N. official warned against anti-African discrimination fueled by fears of Ebola. The disease has ravaged a small part of Africa, but the international image of the whole continent is increasingly under siege, reinforcing some old stereotypes.

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — the African countries afflicted by the Ebola outbreak — have a combined population of about 22 million on a continent with more than 1 billion people. Their corner of West Africa encompasses an area the size of California, or almost as big as Morocco. Yet the epidemic feeds into a narrative of disaster on a continent of 54 countries that has seen some progress in past years, and false perceptions of Ebola’s reach are hurting African business distant from the affected areas.

“It speaks to a whole discourse about the danger of Africa,” said Michael Jennings, a senior lecturer in international development at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

He cited the recent decision of a British school to postpone a visit by a teacher from the West African country of Ghana after parents expressed concern about the Ebola virus. Ghana does not border the hard-hit nations and has not reported any cases of the disease.

Jennings said fearful people don’t necessarily react in a rational way and the message of some comments on social media in Britain is: “Why don’t we just stop everyone in West Africa from coming?”

Africa has had a troubled image. Famine in Ethiopia, chaos in Somalia and genocide in Rwanda drove the idea of a continent in perpetual crisis. In recent years, though, an end to a number of wars and ensuing stability and growth pointed to a turnaround that some enthusiasts dubbed “Africa Rising.”

Now the economic impact of Ebola fears is being felt in many parts of Africa. Hotels, tourism operators and conference organizers are recording increasing cancellations.

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War on Christians: Mariam Ibraheem, Asia Bibi…

አዲስ አበባ ነፋስ ስልክ ክፍለ ከተማ በምትገኘዋ የቅዱስ ዮሴፍ ቤ/ን የሚገኙት የክርስቲያን ወገኖቻችን መቃብሮች በልማት ሳቢያ እንዲፈርሱ / እንዲነሱ ከተደረጉ ሦስት ዓመታትን አስቆጥረዋል። ባለፉት ቀናት በአካባቢው ሳልፍ ያስተዋልኩት አንድ ነገር፡ እዚያው ቅዱስ ዮሴፍ ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ ለ ‘ባሃ’ይ‘ እምነት ተከታዮች ተለይቶ የታጠረ የመቃብር ቦታ አሁንም ሳይነካ እዚያው መኖሩ ነበር። እነዚህ መቃብሮች አልተነሱም! ይህ በጣም ስላሳሰበኝ አንዳንድ ምናልባት ይመለከታቸው ይሆናል ብዬ ያሰብኳቸውን ግለሰቦች፤ “የክርስቲያኖቹ መቃብር እንዲነሱ ሲደረግ ለምን የባሃዮች ተመሳሳይ እርምኛ አልተወሰደበትም?” ስጠይቅ፡ “የባሃዮቹ እንደ መናፈሻ እንክብካቤ ስለሚደረግለት ነው!” የሚል አሳዛኝ መልስ ሰጥተውኝ ነበር። ልበ–ደካማ ሆኜ ብሆን ኖሮ ስብርብር ብዬ እወድቅ ነበር፤ እጅግ በጣም ነበር ያዘንኩት። አረቦች ወገኖቻችንን ባገራችው ምድር መቅበር ስለሚጠየፉ ሬሳቸውን ወደየ ባሕሩ ይወረውሩታል፤ ባገራችን ደግሞ የባለአገሩ ክርስቲያን አስከሬን በተመረጠለት ቦታ ዘላለማዊ እረፍትን ማረፍ አልቻለም፤ አጽሞቹም፡ እትብቱ ከተቀበረችበት አፈር ጋር እንዳይዋሐድ ተደርጓል። ባዕዳዊ እምነት ተከታይ ለሆነው እንግዳ አምልኮት ተከታይ ግን ብሔረ–ጽጌ መሰል የመቃብር ቦታ ተዘጋጅቶ ይሰጠዋል። በነገራችን ላይ የዚሁ የ “‘ባሃ’ይ” እምነት ተከታዮች: “Tsehai Loves Learning” በመባል የሚታወቀውን የሕፃናት ቴሌቪዥን ፕሮግራም በብሔራዊ ቴሌቪዥኑ እያቀረቡ የወደፊቱን የኢትዮጵያ ትውልድ አአምሮ ለማጠብ ይችሉ ዘንድ እድሉን አግኝተዋል።

ኢትዮጵያ ሀገሬ፡ የወልድሻቸውን ልጆችሽን ከሌላው የምታስቀድሚበትን ዘመን መቼ ታመጪው ይሆን?

In Expansive Pakistan, Christians Struggle to Find Space for Cemeteries

In this tiny village where most homes don’t have windows and meals are cooked over fire pits, Christians are used to feeling like second-class citizens.

Christians say they earn less than $2 a day working in the sugarcane fields. They must shop at the sparsely stocked Christian-run rice and vegetable store. They are not allowed to draw water from wells tapped for Muslim neighbors. Now, in what many consider to be a final indignity, they and other Pakistani Christians are struggling to bury their dead.

Pakistan, whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim, is nearly twice the size of California. But leaders of the tiny Christian minority say their burial sites are being illegally seized by developers at an alarming rate, while efforts to secure new land are rejected because of religious tenets barring Muslims from being buried near people of other faiths. Increasingly, the remaining Christian cemeteries are packed with bodies atop bodies.

“There is discrimination, and that is very much clear and obvious to all of us who live in this country,” said Nizar Masih, 65, a farmer who, like many Pakistani Christians, has a surname that refers to the Messiah.

Christians in Pakistan have been targets of what human rights activists call an unprecedented wave of violence against religious minorities, including Shiites, Ahmadis, Sikhs and Hindus. Thousands of members of religious minority groups have been killed over the past five years. But the Christians’ dwindling burial space is an example of a less dramatic but more persistent battle they say takes place behind the bloody headlines: a daily struggle for what might seem to be basic rights.

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Pakistani Christian Woman is Sentenced to Hang

• Asia Bibi, 46, was accused of blasphemy after dispute with Muslim women
• Women told her Christians make Muslims’ water ‘unclean’ by drinking it
• Tired of insults and calls for her to convert, Ms Bibi defended her religion
• She was then accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammed, before an angry mob arrived at her home and savagely beat her and her family
• She was ordered to convert to Islam or face death on ‘blasphemy’ charges
• Despite international outrage she this week lost an appeal against sentence

A Pakistani Christian woman has been sentenced to hang after she was accused of making ‘blasphemous’ comments about the prophet Mohammed during an argument.

While working as a berry picker in 2009, 46-year-old Asia Bibi got into a dispute with a group of Muslim women who objected to her drinking their water because as a Christian she was considered ‘unclean’.

Hours after the incident one of the women reported mother-of-five Ms Bibi to a local cleric, claiming she had made disparaging remarks about the prophet Mohammed during the row.

As a result of the allegations, a furious mob arrived at Ms Bibi’s home and savagely beat her and members of her family.

She was later arrested, charged with blasphemy and eventually sentenced to death – with her entire family forced to go into hiding after receiving threats on their lives.

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A YOUTUBE video of a parliamentary candidate declaring he is a racist has taken the internet by storm

The astonishing video, which sees Liberty GB leader Paul Weston claiming the UK needs to mount a ‘defence’ against Islam has had more than a quarter of a million views.

He says he wants to avoid a ‘civil war’ in the UK and is ‘prepared to be called a racist’ in order to do so.

The video begins with Mr Weston simply stating “Hello, my name is Paul Weston and I am a racist”.

It continues as he lists a number of political parties who class him as a racist while he stands on the bank of the Thames with the O2 arena in the background.

He says he feels the UK is under a “terrible threat” and rails against former Prime Minister Tony Blair for “undermining” Britain.

Opening the video he explains: “The Labour party think I’m a racist, the Liberal Democrats think I’m a racist, the Conservatives think I’m a racist, the BBC thinks I’m a racist, I must therefore be a racist.”

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