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Posts Tagged ‘United Arab Emirates’

YEMENIS Give Oil Companies Operating in Saudi Arabia, UAE Opportunity to Leave Before They Strike!

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on October 3, 2022

💭 Yemen Warns Oil Companies to Leave Saudi Arabia, UAE as Truce Ends

Yemeni resistance forces warned that oil companies operating in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could be targeted as long as Riyadh and Abu Dhabi fail to commit to a proper ceasefire.

Tweeting on Sunday, the Armed Forces’ spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Yemeni troops were providing the oil companies with a window of opportunity to leave the Saudi and Emirati soils “fast.”

The Saudi kingdom and its allies, most notably the United Arab Emirates, have been waging a war against Yemen since March 2015, trying, in vain, to restore Yemen’s power to its former Riyadh-friendly officials. The military campaign, which has been enjoying unstinting arms, logistical, and political support from the United States, has killed hundreds of thousands of people, and turned the entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

A temporary United Nations-mediated ceasefire took effect between the warring sides in April and has been renewed twice ever since. The truce, however, expired on Sunday amid the invading coalition’s constant violations of the agreement and its refusal to properly lift a siege that it has been enforcing against Yemen simultaneously with the war.

“The warning,” Saree said, “stands as long as the countries that make up the invading American-Saudi coalition refuse to adhere to a ceasefire that allows the Yemeni people to exploit their oil wealth….”

Also on Sunday, Hans Grundberg, the United Nations’ special envoy for Yemen, confirmed failure of efforts aimed at extending the truce.

“The UN special envoy regrets that an agreement has not been reached today, as an extended and expanded truce would provide additional critical benefits to the population,” a statement said.

“I urge [the warring parties] to fulfill their obligation to the Yemeni people to pursue every avenue for peace,” the Swedish diplomat was quoted as saying.

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Posted in Ethiopia, News/ዜና, War & Crisis | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Appeasing Gulf Arab Sponsors, Soccer Giants Real Madrid Remove Cross From Club Logo

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on December 3, 2014

Satan’s design is to buy your Soul – at the very foundation of every scheme of Satan is the hidden effort to buy your soul.

SellSoulDevilIf spreading religious intolerance is the goal, a Middle Eastern bank has scored by prompting Real Madrid to alter its world-famous logo so that a small cross does not appear on an officially-licensed credit card.

The Spanish soccer giant unveiled the adjusted logo that will adorn a new credit card issued by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, reported The Algemeiner. The new logo looks exactly like the club’s 83-year-old trademark, except for the absence of a tiny Christian cross that normally sits at the top.

The logo change was agreed to by the world’s wealthiest sports team, valued at nearly $3.5 billion, in order to avoid offending Muslim sensibilities as the team and the bank enter a three-year “strategic alliance,” according to Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez.

“I know that the local people experience every match in a special way and that our links with the UAE are constantly growing stronger,” Perez said recently. “This agreement will help the club to keep conquering the hearts of followers in the United Arab Emirates.”

Noted Spanish soccer website Marca: “from the looks of things, the club is willing to compromise on aspects of its identity in pursuit of these new fans.”

However, it was not the first time the soccer juggernaut tweaked its crest to avoid offending Islamic sensibilities.In the oil-rich Emirates in 2012, Real Madrid made the same change to smooth the way for a partnership with a UAE resort.

Real Madrid’s most recent decision to cave into Muslim religious intolerance comes at a time of growing concern for Christians in the Middle East, where Islamic State terrorists have massacred and ethnically cleansed ancient Christian communities in Iraq and Syria, noted The Algemeiner, citing a recent State Department report highlighting several violations of international standards on religious freedom in the United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is a part.

The government prohibits proselytizing and the distribution of non-Islamic religious literature under penalty of criminal prosecution, imprisonment and deportation,” the report observed. “The law prohibits churches from erecting bell towers or displaying crosses on the outside of their premises; however, the government does not always enforce this law, and some churches display crosses on their buildings.”

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Selected readers’ comments:

“El Cid Campeador is turning over in his grave. The collapse of western civilization, brick by brick. Talk about selling your soul !!!!“

“Real Madrid’s most recent decision to cave into Muslim religious intolerance comes at a time of growing concern for Christians in the Middle East, where Islamic State terrorists have massacred and ethnically cleansed ancient Christian communities in Iraq and Syria„

“If this is not the worst kind of “prostitution” and an example if greed before principles, than I don’t know what it is! The Real Madrid is no longer part of the Western civilization! „

“Just one more indication of how the West is on a path to commit cultural suicide. Islam hardly ever misses an opportunity to exercise its “Islam ueber alles” supremacist ideology.„

“Looks to me like the Middle Eastern bank, rather than scoring a victory for ‘religious tolerance’, is lacking in ‘religious tolerance’. If a Western bank had asked an Islamic organization to remove an Islamic symbol, that would certainly be called religious intolerance. Tolerance would be allowing it.„

“I would have told the UAE to stick it in their ear. They expect everyone to respect and obey ALL their religious mores, symbols and laws so why can’t they reciprocate

“Since money is now their god, they should have replaced the cross with a dollar sign.“

“It is not yet clear whether the UAE will require Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s top striker, to change his Christian name – which is, appropriately, “Cristiano.” „

Real Madrid and The Offense of The Cross

It was a really tiny cross. Honestly, it was barely noticeable in all that pearly pizzazz and gaudy gold. The Crown of Alfonso XII has been a sacred symbol of the Spanish Monarchy for more than 300 years, and that symbolism is reified by the Christian cross which sits at the crest of majesty. God has appointed; Christ is the source of wisdom; the Church proclaims its earthly sovereign. Europe still resonates with the echoes of Christendom: our history is undeniable; the fons et origo of our law, morality, freedom and fraternity are irrefutable.

But not for Spain’s supreme football team Real Madrid, who, despite proudly bearing the ‘Royal’ epithet, have excised the cross of Christ’s regency from their iconic crest after securing a sponsorship deal with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Apparently it’s only the sponsored credit card which carries the theologically-emasculated emblem. But that credit card doubles as the Real Madrid club membership card, so escaping sharia sensitivities censorship would appear to be impossible.

This brand variation is to accommodate the club’s Muslim fans in the United Arab Emirates, where the cross might be considered something of a stumbling block. But the new new design is therefore likely to apply to the crest’s reproduction throughout the entire Middle East, for the crucifixion of Jesus is a scandal of faith to all Muslims: their Jesus is no “suffering servant” but the prophet of miracles: He did not suffer the shame and degradation of death on a cross. Those who hang on a tree are cursed by God.

It is ironic – is it not – as the Islamic State is rampaging throughout the region, desecrating churches, destroying ancient tombs and tearing down all icons and crosses in a systematic programme of ‘religious cleansing’, that Europe is becoming complicit in this cultural conversion. While ISIS is busy crucifying Christians and cutting off their heads, Real Madrid is denying Christ by cutting off the symbol of salvation, justification and saving grace. They might as well replace it with the black Islamic flag (they haven’t, of course: the apex of the modified crown is left bare. The revision above is simply symbolic of our political acquiescence, economic deference and religious passivity which only bolster the Islamist zeal for the Caliphate and world domination).

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi may be politically prestigious, mighty powerful and filthy rich, but quite why Real Madrid’s historic monarchism and the Spanish King’s unashamed Christian profession should bow in worship of sharia fascism is the €90 million (“strategic alliance”) question (over three years). It isn’t as though Spain isn’t sensitive to the evils of autocracy and the injustices of totalitarianism. Perhaps in the globalisation of sport the market transcends morality: the cross of Christ must be subject to Sharia Mammon where it is expedient to do so. If Real Madrid seeks to conquer the hearts of potential new followers in the UAE, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi is more than happy to sponsor their conversion.

But it is curious that the cross should be excised to avoid giving offence to Real Madrid’s Muslim fans without, it appears, much consideration at all of the offence this might give to its Christian fans. How many Spanish Roman Catholic followers of ‘Los Blancos’ are disquieted if not aggrieved at the eradication of the club’s historic Christian identity in order to appease Islam? What is the point of winning hearts in the UAE if you’re losing them in the EU?

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Posted in Curiosity, Faith, Infos | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Migrant Domestic Workers in UAE Treated Like ‘Animals’

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on October 23, 2014

Think of working in the Middle East as working in the ‘Middle Ages.’ That will give you a good idea of how you’ll be treated. The oil rich Arab states are a breeding ground of the most decadent, narcissistic, misogynistic, abusive and brutal miserable excuses for human beings alive today.

‘The UAE should reform its kafala system so domestic workers can change employers without their consent and without losing valid immigration status,’ says Human Rights Watch

Sexual violence, isolation and forced confinement, unpaid wages, long working hours with limited food, and regular beating are just some of the conditions migrant domestic workers in oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) endure in the hands of their employers.

This “seemingly entrenched pattern” of abuses was detailed in a 79-page report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday, October 23, urging the UAE government to enact reforms to put an end to it.

“Many said their employers had treated them like animals or as if they were dirty and physical contact with them would be contaminating,” the report said.

Quezon City resident Marelie Brua returned home to the Philippines after suffering maltreatment and a meager 800-dirham ($217 or P9,712) monthly pay under the employ of an Arab family.

A mere animal “bought” at a price is how domestic workers to the UAE are regarded, Brua shared in an HRW clip.

He [the sponsor] slapped me and banged my head on the wall, then spit on me. He beat me with a cable on my back and put a knife to my face.” – Indonesian domestic worker

A total of 99 UAE-based helpers from November to December 2013 who came all the way from the Philippines, Indonesia, Uganda, and other labor-sending countries were interviewed by HRW staff and reported even worse experiences of exploitation.

One of those interviewed, 22-year-old Indonesian Arti L.* shared: “He [the sponsor] slapped me and banged my head on the wall, then spit on me. He beat me with a cable on my back and put a knife to my face.”

Of the 99, at least 22 complained of physical violence and 6 of sexual assault/harassment.

Arti L.*, the 22-year-old Indonesian beaten and slapped by her boss, was also raped. “I ran away with blood on my panties. I was bleeding badly,” she told HRW.

Most of them reported having to work long hours with low wages, and have experienced psychological and verbal abuse.

The women shared how they were verbally abused by their employers.

Farah S.* from Indonesia said not once was she addressed by her name, while Sadiyah A.* from the Philippines said she was always called an idiot in public.

Filipina Holly C*, 26, quoted her former employer as saying: “If you do anything wrong I will kill you and cut you up into pieces and put you into the desert and no one will know.”

The HRW brought the matter to the UAE authorities, but said it received no response.

Kafala system

At the heart of the report is a controversial system that unduly limits migrant workers’ rights and cripples their ability to redress their grievances.

Under the kafala sponsorship system, a migrant worker’s visa status is dependent on his or her employer. The threat of deportation looms and is dependent on his or her boss.

The system of having employer-sponsors as a prerequisite for migrant workers to stay in UAE and acquire a work permit enables employers to exploit them and gain “inordinate control” over them, the HRW report explained.

“The relationship between domestic worker and employer is mistakenly perceived as status-based, with a superior master commanding an inferior servant, rather than a contractual arrangement between parties with mutual rights and obligations,” it read.

Azfar Khan, a senior migration specialist for the International Labor Organization (ILO), said the system has been regarded as “slave-like.”

It is common practice among the employers of those interviewed by HRW to confiscate passports of their helpers. This prevents workers from running away from an abusive employer.

“The UAE should reform its kafala system so domestic workers can change employers without their consent and without losing valid immigration status,” the HRW urged.

Source

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Posted in Ethiopia, Infos, Life | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

 
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