'It Doesn't Matter If You're Jewish, Arab Straight or Lesbian': Israeli Women Strip In Support of Nude Egyptian Blogger

MAIL ONLINE: When an Egyptian activist posted a nude picture of herself online in protest at the lack of freedom of expression, it sparked outrage in her country.

Now, a group of women in Israel have also stripped off in a show of solidarity.

Inspired by 20-year-old Aliaa Elmahdy's bold move, the 40 Israelis posed naked for a 'copycat' shot - holding a banner to cover their modesty.

The sign read 'Homage to Aliaa El Mahdi. Sisters in Israel' with the slogan 'Love without Limits', written in Arabic and Hebrew.

Led by 28-year-old Or Templar, who set up a group on a social networking website inviting women to join her, the girls put their political differences aside to express their support.

On the Facebook group, Templar wrote: 'Girls, let's give the world a good reason to see the unique beauty of Israeli women.

'Regardless of whether they are Jewish, Arab, straight or lesbian – because here, as of now, it doesn't matter.

'Let us show the doubters that our international discourse doesn't depend on governments.'

Templar's plan came as a response to Elmahdy, who posted the image of herself wearing only stockings and red flat shoes on her blog last week. Read on and comment » | Maysa Rawi | Monday, November 21, 2011

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‘We Have to Help the Greeks,’ Say French, ‘It’s Our Duty’
TIMES ONLINE: It is a gloriously sunny Pentecôte bank holiday, and hundreds of people have descended on Morschwiller-le-Bas, a suburb of the French city of Mulhouse, for its annual marché aux puces — flea market.

The eurozone crisis is hardly uppermost in their minds as they pick through the mounds of second-hand clothes and bric-a-brac, but they respond when asked, and their views could scarcely be more different from those we found in Germany, a mere 15km (9 miles) to the east.

The hard-working Germans were furious at the €148 billion euros (£126.1 billion) in loan guarantees that their Government has offered the Greeks and other states of the southern eurozone. Here in France, nobody even knows how much their Government has put up (the answer is €111 billion) and there has been scarcely a murmur of dissent.

“If we consider Europe a serious matter we have to help the Greeks,” said Jacqueline Wertz, a retired hotel worker eating pizza in the shade. “They have to have more discipline, but we have a duty of solidarity and have to help,” agreed Martial Fixalis, 39, a businessman manning his own stall.

“We’re European, and it’s our role to help others,” said Josiane Mehlen, who was queueing at a beer stand and turned out to be Morschwiller’s mayor.

There are many explanations for this Gallic insouciance. The French believe in state intervention. Like the Greeks, they have their own sizeable black economy. Unlike the Germans, they are no fiscal saints themselves. Their national debt is 84 per cent of GDP — 6 per cent higher than Britain’s.

“Money is a means to an end. If you can live well with a deficit it’s not a big problem,” chuckled Denis Fauroux, a Mulhouse lawyer, as we ate lunch in his garden and admired the distant mountains of Les Vosges.

The French, with their 35-hour working week and propensity to retire early, do not share the German work ethic evident this week in Ludwigshafen, a four-hour train ride north up the Rhine valley. “Here it’s a Latin culture. The French have more sympathy with the Greeks than the Germans,” observed Marc Sarwatka, 44, the head of a large recruitment agency, over an early evening beer in the elegant Place de la Bourse.

Nor are they such sticklers for rules, as our translator observed when a French driver sped over a pedestrian crossing. “The Germans always stop,” she remarked.

Amongst the cognescenti, there is even a certain pride that President Sarkozy pressed Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, into backing the €750 billion bailout package. Read on and comment >>> Martin Fletcher | Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Australia Plans Broadcasts to Burma
DAILY EXPRESS: Australia is planning to broadcast a Burmese language radio service into the south-east Asian nation to promote democracy and human rights.

The military junta which rules Burma heavily censors the nation's media and limits the population's communications with the outside world. 



But foreign radio remains popular among locals, including US Government-funded Radio Free Asia and Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norwegian-supported operation. 



Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the Burma service would become the eighth language broadcast by state-owned Radio Australia, which focuses on Asia and the Pacific. 



Mr Smith said the service would "open up a new channel of international contact for the people of Burma". 



It would also show Australian solidarity with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he said. 
>>> | Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Supreme Leader Calls on Shiites, Sunnis to Maintain Solidarity
TEHRAN TIMES: TEHRAN (FNA) - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Monday urged all Muslims, including Shiites and Sunnites, to maintain and enhance heartfelt solidarity.

“Continued unity and solidarity of all Iranian peoples and different political streams in defending the flag of Islam in Iran is necessary and guarantees a bright future for the nation,” Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated while addressing a gathering of local residents in the city of Bijar in the western Kurdistan province. 



The Leader further reminded that unity of the Iranian people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds and their subordination and obedience to the Late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, created such a fresh civilization and movement in the world politics that its leading effects are still clearly observed not only in Palestine and Lebanon but also in awakening nations from northern Africa to eastern Asia. >>> | Wednesday, May 19, 2009

Bush Pushes for Solidarity Against Iran
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