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Holiness in the Bible

By
Gaston de Persigny
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Holiness in the Bible

Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 48

Try to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 14

Isn’t it true that “holiness” is often called what they are not going to do? “He’s a saint, I can’t do that” – that’s a win-win alibi! “I’m not a saint” is the best way to cover up your sins.

If the “sanctity” of everyday speech and thought is “not about us,” then about whom then? There are several options.

1) The occult point of view: there are supernatural beings, all in light and gold – “saints”, and their function is, of course, magical help. Or even worse: there are holy objects and substances that, of course, heal something.

2) Moralistic variant: “saint” – an amazing “morally perfect” individual, frightening with his perfection. From birth, he did not take his mother’s breast on Wednesday and Friday, from childhood he did not like noisy games … The reader clearly understands: this is not about him.

3) Approach of idolaters: “holy”, “this is holy to us”. A dangerous thing – because where the idols are, there is blood: what to do with the shrine, except to kill for it?

Holiness is God

Any perversion is a perversion of the norm; sick only what was healthy. Likewise, any false understanding is only a perversion of the true understanding.

Of course, the holy is different, distant, healing, perfect and good, which should be worshiped: the holy is God. He is the only true Saint, in Hebrew – “kadosh”, that is, another, separate, non-worldly. Holy is that which is consecrated to God.

To be with God means to be holy, that is, the way a person is conceived by God. To be holy means to be in general (to belong to Being, that is, to God), to enter eternal life, to be perfect, whole, healthy.

Sin is separation from God, not living with Him is Life. Ultimately, sin is death, the abomination of desolation, hell. God does not want death, so the history of the world is the history of salvation, the reunification of the whole world with God. To be saved means to be with Him, to become a god by grace.

We are saints

“Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” – this commandment of Christ is suspiciously rarely remembered. Man is conceived by the Creator as a saint. In this sense, we are all potentially holy: Israel is holy because it is consecrated to God, the Church is holy because it is God’s: Christians used to call themselves saints at one time “simply” by belonging to the Body of Christ. If we do not become saints, then we will finally fall away from God, the source of life, and “die in hell.”

Therefore, as Leon Blois says, “there is only one grief – not to be a saint”: not to be with God is eternal death. But the Good News (i.e. Joyful, Cheerful, Hopeful) lies in the fact that there is salvation.

Saints among us

On the path to holiness, the canonized saints of the Church serve as an example for us. In communion with God and with each other, they form the Triumphant Church, into which the whole world must turn after the second Coming.

Lisa from the animated series “The Simpsons” in one of the episodes says: “I do not deny the existence of angels, but I do not believe that one of them can appear in our garage.” This is the slogan of a real agnostic (and it seems that there are no more good old atheists): whether there is a God or not is not important, but this is not about me, not about life. This is the essence of unbelief. But the saints are “angels in our garage”: real people, with sins, problems, addictions, just like us, but who fulfilled the commandment of perfection.

Holiness Quotes

Etymology of the word “saint”

The word saint is based on the Proto-Slavic element *svet- (=*svent-), which is related to the designations of the same concept in the Baltic (cf. Lit. šventas), Iranian (cf. Avest. spenta-) and a number of other languages. Ultimately, this element in the examples cited and others like them forms a link that connects the current Russian word saint with the Indo-European stem *k’uen–to-, denoting growth, swelling, swelling, that is, an increase in volume or other physical characteristics.

“Space and time, holy (sanctified) at their most important points and “material” knots, as if with a hoop fasten the holy, or God’s, world, often correlated with the holy (God’s) beauty, and the holy people inhabiting it (again with a reference to idea of ​​birth), leading a holy life. In this holy world, the destiny and ideal of a person is to be a saint (a holy person; compare names like Svyatoslav, Svyatopolk, Svyatomir, etc.). All forms of realization of human activity are, in theory, oriented towards holiness — one’s own (potentially) or coming from above. Hence the holy word, holy deed, holy thought. And what a person is reputed to have among others, what remains after him, in his highest manifestations turns out to be holy (holy glory, holy name). Holy is the highest purpose of a person, his life path, his ideal (holy path, holy faith, holy truth, holy truth, holy life, holy God).

The sacredness (or even hypersacrality) of the ancient Russian tradition is manifested primarily in the fact that 1) everything must be sacralized in principle, wrested from the power of the evil inclination and – it is impossible to reconcile with less – returned to its original state of integrity, untouchedness, purity; 2) there is a single and universal goal (“super goal”), the most cherished desire and the most secret dream – hope – the holy kingdom (holiness, holy life) on earth and for man; 3) strong and actual is the hope that this holy state can be as close as possible in space and time to the here and now (the liturgy is already an image of this state; hence the desire to extend the liturgical time, on the one hand, and the inattention to the profane, on the other hand). – Toporov “Holiness and saints in Russian culture”

What Skills and Perspectives Do Interfaith Peacebuilders Need?

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Newsdesk
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This United Religions Initiative’s (URI) Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide to support the foundational work of forming and sustaining interfaith groups begins with methods for promoting tolerance, respect, and understanding among peoples of diverse faiths and for reducing prejudices and stereotypes. It seeks to build skills for creating and sustaining a safe, productive group environment, including decision-making, creating a shared vision, developing shared leadership, and for overall communication. For those groups wanting to become outwardly active in their community or beyond, it includes a range of practices for peacebuilding that offer options that can be matched to the capabilities and interests of most grassroots interfaith groups.

This guide presents an approach to peacebuilding that focuses on the positive power and potential of human beings — the capacities for peace inherent in every human system — and it draws the analytical focus to that positive potential for the purpose of more effectively mobilizing it. It combines the sharing of new knowledge and drawing out of the experience and wisdom already within the group in a powerful combination that builds confidence and creativity in interfaith peacebuilding.

It complements existing peacebuilding methodologies with a unique interfaith perspective with three phases: (1) We engage in deep personal reflection and ground ourselves deeply in our own faith tradition. (2) Out of appreciation and respect for ourselves and others, we develop our capacity to deal with our differences. (3) We apply our insight and experience to actively contribute to the efforts of peacebuilding in the larger community.

Focus on the Special Role of Interfaith Groups

There are many manuals and books written for peacebuilders. This is a guide for interfaith peacebuilders. It therefore brings a distinctive perspective to peacebuilding and is grounded in the values and the special potentials that communities of faith and especially interfaith bodies have for transforming conflict.

A document of the World Conference on Religion and Peace describes those potentials this way:

“Many religions possess social and moral characteristics that give them the potential to act as constructive forces for peace and conflict transformation. Dispersed throughout societies and often organized at the national and international levels, religious communities represent significant potential channels for communication and action. Religious traditions establish ethical visions that can summon those that believe in them to powerful forms of committed action.” (Cynthia Sampson, “Conflict Transformation Commission Seventh WCRP World Assembly: Preparatory Document,” World Conference on Religion and Peace, Amman, Jordan, November 25-29, 1999).

The potential of religious and spiritual communities for making an impact for peace is multiplied when you consider the principles upon which interfaith groups are founded and the commitment to peace and understanding these groups display merely by virtue of their existence. This commitment is eloquently captured in the principles of the United Religions Initiative (see Resources Section of this guide).

Grounded in a Positive-Change Perspective

Positive approaches to peacebuilding pay particular attention to local resources for change — those strengths, capacities, and best practices and experiences — that are present in every culture and can be more actively mobilized for peacebuilding. They focus on what gives life to the system and work to strengthen those factors, rather than placing a primary focus on analyzing root causes of the conflict for the purpose of reducing them. Many of the activities in this guide are grounded in a positive-change approach. One such methodology, Appreciative Inquiry, connects people to these peace-generating resources and uses them to help create a shared vision of the future and to mobilize for action.

Basic Principles for Leading Interfaith Activities

Here are some basic principles that the designers of this guide consider to be essential for leading interfaith activities.

Establishing Equality

Religious and spiritual traditions offer different paths in the discovery of truth(s). In interfaith gatherings we assume that all members of the different faith traditions are equal. In interfaith work for peacebuilding, equality is a central core value.

Developing a Culture of Pluralism and Inclusion

A foundational value and principle of interfaith community-building and peacebuilding is pluralism. It recognizes the right of diverse faith traditions to  coexist without promoting one view of religious truth. The interfaith group must never be a space for attempts at conversion. On the contrary, interfaith peacebuilding is precisely a forum for promoting inclusion of all faiths and all voices. There are, indeed, still boundaries that distinguish the diverse religious and spiritual identities brought into the interfaith circle. In the interfaith context, however, these boundaries must not be held up or manipulated to exclude another or to establish a sense of religious superiority on the part of some.

Source: United Religions Initiative ~ Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide, August 2004, pp. 16-17 Introduction. Web: www.uri.org

The Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide by the United Religions Initiative

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Newsdesk
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Guide in the Context of Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding is a relatively new term. It was coined about a decade ago by the then-Secretary General of the United Nations Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali to refer to a set of activities devised to promote peaceful relations among conflicting parties, especially after a peace agreement has been signed. Many scholars and practitioners now use the term to refer to activities carried out at any stage of a peace process. We adopt that broader view of peacebuilding in this guide, using it as an umbrella term that assumes a nonviolent approach and refers to all attitudes and activities aimed to assist people in resolving conflicts and building sustainable relationships.

It its broadest sense, peacebuilding is about building peaceful, stable communities, and societies.1 Peacebuilding recognizes that peace is “an active process in which people may, in some cases, promote conflict [through nonviolent action] in order to improve the conditions and relationships of others or themselves.”2 Ultimately, peacebuilding aims to prevent further violence and destructive conflict; heal individuals and societies from the effects of violence; and reconcile individuals and communities, “so that a shared future might be possible.”3

Peacebuilding is oriented to transforming the system as a whole, not just individual parts of it. It relates to the individual, community, society, and the international system. It has an impact on assumptions, values, attitudes, issues, and relationships. Peacebuilding is made up of countless small and large actions, some that are in response to immediate needs such as relief of suffering or the calming of tensions and others designed for longer-term impact. Some peacebuilding strategies may require sustained action over decades to yield results, particularly those designed to bring about changes in social, political, and economic structures and systems.

Peacebuilding is both a field of practice and of scholarly study. It builds on decades of peace research and developing theories and practice of conflict resolution, nonviolent activism, and work in related fields such as human rights and socioeconomic development. It is a dynamic field in which the focus has expanded from preventing and ending violent social conflict to the study of systemic and other causes of conflict to the study of post-conflict processes of restoration and reconstruction. It spans many different disciplines such as history, psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, political science, education, communication, public policy, among others.

The role of ordinary citizens in peacebuilding cannot be underestimated. As the veteran American peacebuilder Louise Diamond has said, “the power for peacebuilding resides with the many and not just the few.”4 To build an effective and sustainable peace we need to develop leadership and participation in at every level of a society, from citizens working locally at the “grassroots” to create a foundation of trust between people on different sides of a conflict, to people active in many different capacities at the national, regional, and international levels.

The Interfaith Contribution to Peacebuilding

Groups and individuals working for interfaith understanding hold powerful keys for unlocking conflict, wherever it is found. Inherently, most faiths aim to bring peace to their followers and to humanity. At the same time, religious differences are often easily manipulated and used to mobilize communities and individuals for violence. Thus, learning to understand the meaning of religious differences — and becoming comfortable with the many diverse “voices” of religious and spiritual expression — reduces the possibility of religious radicalism and the intolerance, hatred, and violence that so often accompany it. It can also motivate people to actively engage in building connections and relationship across religious divides and act to correct injustice.

Every longstanding faith group has an historic reservoir of meanings that give shape to identity. They have powerful symbols and rituals that give expression to collective needs and desires. They also have a wealth of principles, values, and practices that can build peace and cooperative relationships among enemies.

Religious peacebuilding — which includes interfaith peacebuilding — is now a recognized area of practice and study in the larger peacebuilding field. It brings into play distinctive sets of meanings and interpretations, motivations, causes and effects, and strategies. Its contributions include the prophetic and moral voice and authority of faith, the institutional resources of many faith groups and communities, the intermediary and advocacy roles often played by religious and spiritual adherents, and also a focus on the restoration of relationships and community.

The discipline and transformative power of religious and spiritual teachings and practices are a special ingredient that interfaith groups bring to peacebuilding as a whole. These include the vital qualities of empathy and compassion, courage and self-sacrifice, self-awareness and self-control; a belief in the transformative power of love and positive regard; faith in the face of seemingly impassible obstacles; and a predisposition toward healing and reconciliation.

Interfaith peacebuilding is a way to access these reservoirs of meaning and practice for the benefit of all. It is also a way of including a segment of society that often is excluded from power politics and formal peace processes.

Interfaith peacebuilding includes many types of initiatives and activities aimed at building understanding, respect, and joint action among people of faith. Examples include interfaith dialogue and the sharing of rituals and practices of faith; interfaith action on social welfare and economic development; and active peacemaking designed to bring parties in conflict together, to name just a few key categories of action.

Given that most people active in interfaith groups are private citizens with no special training but who are concerned about the situations in their communities and country and have a deep commitment to working for peace, activities at the grassroots are often most appropriate.

Peacebuilding activities that are especially suited to grassroots interfaith efforts are those that help build understanding and cooperation across lines of division in a society, and which develop new ways for dealing with differences peacefully and productively. Interfaith groups create spaces for safety, acceptance, understanding, insight, and transformation to occur. Simply coming together to work collaboratively in an interfaith setting is a peacebuilding action. It develops cultures of peace

Grassroots interfaith peacebuilders make a difference by:

bringing diverse groups together

listening with openness to others

educating and breaking down stereotypes

inspiring hope

building trust for dealing with tough issues

creating an inclusive sense of community that embraces those who are “other”

being models of constructive ways of dealing with differences

supporting a willingness to change unjust systems and structures that cause pain to others

1 Peacebuilding: A Caritas Training Manual (Vatican City: Caritas Internationalis, 2002), 4.

2 Susan L. Carpenter, A Repertoire of Peacemaking Skills (Consortium on Peace Research, Education, and Development, 1977), 4.

3 Paula Green, “Contact: Training a New Generation of Peacebuilders,” Peace and Change 27:1 (January 2002), 101.

4 “Building Peace: Who’s Responsible?” Pathways Journal (Fall 1996), https://www.pathwaysmag.com/9-96diamond.html.

United Religions Initiative ~ Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide, August 2004 Introduction, pp. 12-15.

Web: www.uri.org

How did Christians get a wrong date for Christmas?

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Newsdesk
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Author: Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

Let us begin with a bit of a dark picture. Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures are we told about a celebration commemorating the birth of Christ Jesus. Nothing in the Scriptures gives us any sure evidence about the date of this magnificent event.

The lack of Scriptural specificity about the facts surrounding the birth of the Judean King stands in sharp contrast to the details available about his death (each of the four Gospels provide the exact timing of Jesus’ death).

In the late second century, the Greek Church Father Origen mocked yearly celebrations of Roman birth anniversaries, discounting them as deeply pagan practices. This suggests that Christian communities did not yet celebrate Christmas during Origen’s lifetime (c.165-264). The first church figure to discuss the date of Jesus’ birth was Clement (c. 200), an Egyptian preacher from Alexandria.  However, December 25 was not even mentioned. By the middle of the fourth century, however, we find that Western churches were already celebrating the Birth of Christ on December 25, while the Eastern Churches did so on Jan. 7th.

How did the early Christians arrive at this dating?

Surprisingly, the early church followed a very Jewish idea – that the beginning and the end of important redemptive events often happen on the same date (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana 10b-11a). In the beginning of the third century, Tertullian reported that since he knew precisely when Jesus died (14th of Nissan or March 25), he also knew exactly when he was conceived! He was most-likely wrong in his conclusions, but at least we can now see how they arrived to date of Christmas.

The logic went as follows: If Jesus was conceived on March 25 then counting forward to the 9 months of Mary’s pregnancy would place His birth on December 25. This is especially intriguing because January 1st used to be celebrated as the Day of Christ’s circumcision (8 days from the evening of Dec. 24).

It is very important to note that it was not until the 4th-6th centuries of the Common Era that Christians began to â€śChristianize” the local pagan celebrations of the peoples they sought to evangelize. There is no doubt that it was at this time, but not before, that Christmas began to acquire some of its pagan traditions. Why? Because until c.300-320 CE, Christians were fighting a counter-cultural war with the pagans of the Roman and Persian world. Consequently, they were not in the mood for cultural adaptations just yet.

Since December 25 as the supposed date of Christ’s birth was circulated 100-150 years before the practice of “Christianizing” pagan celebrations commenced, it is unreasonable to conclude that this date was adopted to please the Roman pagans as popular conspiracy theory suggests.

It is true that in 274 CE a Roman Emperor declared December 25 to be, “The Day of the Unconquered Sun,” (Sol Invictus). However, that was some 70 years after Christians had settled on December 25 as their Christmas date. (Moreover, the decree itself may have been issued to help stamp out the newly established Christian celebration). Before answering our main question, I think we should answer few related ones:

Is Christmas a Biblical Holiday?

No. It was not commanded by God in the Bible.

Does the celebration of Christmas contain elements that are pagan in origin?

Absolutely. There is no doubt about that whatsoever.

Is December 25 the correct date for celebration of the Birth?

Possible, but highly unlikely.

Photo by Plato Terentev / pexels

Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky out from Ukrainian textbooks

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News desk
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The Russian language and literature are completely dropped from the curriculum in Ukraine after the sixth grade, the Ministry of Education and Science announced in the country. Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky will be replaced by Lafontaine, O’Henry, Anna Gavalda, Robert Burns, Heine, Adam Mickiewicz, Pierre Ronsard, Goethe….

The Ukrainian Ministry of Education announced that the works of Russian and Belarusian authors were removed from the curricula of foreign literature, writes “Standartnews.com”.

 In their place, according to a statement from the department, works by foreign writers are added, so as to take into account the literary process and the age characteristics of the students – from O. Herni and Anna Gavalda to Jean de Lafontaine, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and others. In place of Russian poets, masterpieces by authors such as Robert Burns and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe enter.

The revision of the program is a result of the war in Ukraine. The decision was expected after back in June Education Minister Andriy Vitrenko announced a plan to remove all works glorifying the Russian army, including even Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

From Russian-language literature, the program includes authors such as Nikolai Gogol and Mikhail Bulgakov, whose lives and works are closely connected with Ukraine. “The Twelve Chairs” by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov and “Babiy Yar” by Anatoly Kuznetsov remain in the additional program.

 Moments from the history program are also revised in view of the new historiographic developments:

The Soviet Union, for example, is seen as an “Imperial Type Government”;

“Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine” since 2014 will be studied at school;

Concepts such as “racism” are introduced – an interpretation of Russian ideology and social practices at the time of Vladimir Putin, related to Russia’s “civilizational role” and Russian military expansionism;

We will also study the concept of “Russian world” – “Russkiy mir” – the concept of a community oriented around Russia, its culture and language, which, according to Ukraine and other countries and politicians in Europe, is the basis of modern imperialism and revanchism.

Photo by Olena Bohovyk / pexels

Russia has found buyers for all the coal the EU refused, but sells 10 times cheaper

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News desk
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In July, Russia managed to find buyers for all the coal that the EU refused due to the imposition of sanctions on the federation, but at an “extremely large discount”. Exports have been redirected mainly to China and India and remain almost unchanged. In June, the export of coal from Russia by sea amounted to 16.45 million tons, it is clear from an overview of analysts from the Russian non-governmental Center for Energy Development, quoted by “Vedomosti”. According to experts from the center, the discount in the price of Russian coal exported to the East is “extremely large”. Calculations show that Russian coal is selling at discounts of more than $200 per tonne to the regional benchmark, amounting to a discount of around 45-50%. The discount is more than 10 times larger than the one made at the beginning of the year.

Global coal consumption is on track to return to record levels since 2013.

Indian companies buy Russian coal en masse in non-dollar currencies Indian companies are increasingly using currencies of various Asian countries to pay for Russian coal imports.

The redirection of exports will depend on India’s willingness to increase purchases of Russian coal as an alternative to Australian coal and provide bulk carriers to transport it.

Prices not lower than 100 dollars per ton suit the Russian producers. According to Rodionov’s forecast, in the coming months the price of coal will be higher than 250 dollars per ton. Coal deliveries to Asian countries are mostly carried out by sea. According to the Association of Commercial Seaports, the amount of coal transshipped in Russian ports in 2021 amounted to 202.7 million tons, and exports equaled 223 million tons, according to data from the Ministry of Energy, cited by the Russian edition of Forbes. The amount of Russian coal delivered to the European Union in July was about 3 million tons less than a month earlier. However, the decline “is mainly compensated by the redirection of volumes to the east – to India and China”, the Center for Energy Development points out. The largest importers of Russian coal by sea in July were China (6.7 million tons) and India (2 million tons), according to Kpler data. The growth of deliveries to these countries for the month amounts to 42% and 60%, respectively. According to experts, one of the factors for the increase in the export of solid fuel to Asian countries in June is the changes in the rules for transporting coal on the eastern lines of the Russian railways, namely on the Baikal-Amur highway and the Trans-Siberian railway.

On July 1, the Russian government returned quotas for coal producers in the famous coal-mining Kuzbass, Khakassia and Tuva regions for priority export to the east. The amount of coal loaded on the Russian railways in the January-July period decreased by 5.5% on an annual basis, and in the first half of the year the decrease was equal to 5%. This decline is, rather, due to the reduction of supplies for the domestic market. According to the forecast of the Energy Development Center for the month of August, the levels of coal exports will remain unchanged compared to those in July. However, actual deliveries will depend on the dynamics of exports to India, Turkey and the Middle East.

EU importers are currently looking for alternatives to Russian coal. Thus, imports of the Old Continent from the USA, Colombia, Australia, Kazakhstan and Tanzania have increased. In early April, the EU adopted a fifth package of sanctions on Russia and imposed an embargo on the federation’s coal. Russia’s Energy Ministry says that in 2021, Russia’s coal exports to the EU will amount to 48.8 million tonnes, with thermal coal deliveries amounting to 45.3 million tonnes and coking coal to 3.45 million tonnes. According to Kiril Rodionov, an expert from the Institute for the Development of Technologies in the Fuel and Energy Complex, the success of the redirection of coal exports will be able to be assessed by the end of September, when the effects of the Russian import ban, which came into force on August 10, are being calculated coal in the EU.

Photo by vierro / pexels

A student will spend 34 years in prison for illegally using Twitter

By
Gaston de Persigny
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A Saudi student at the University of Leeds who returned to the kingdom for a holiday has been jailed for 34 years for having a Twitter account and following and sharing with dissidents and activists.

The ruling by Saudi Arabia’s Special Terrorism Court comes weeks after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which human rights activists warned could embolden the kingdom to step up its crackdown on dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.

The case is the latest example of how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has targeted Twitter users in his crackdown campaign while controlling a large indirect stake in the US social media site through the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Salma al-Shehab, 34, a mother of two young children, was initially sentenced to serve three years in prison for the “crime” of using a website to “cause public disorder and destabilize civil and national security”.

But the appeals court handed down a new sentence – 34 years in prison, followed by a 34-year travel ban – after a prosecutor asked the court to consider other alleged offences.

According to a translation of court records seen by The Guardian, the new charges include an allegation that Shehab “aided and abetted those who sought to cause public disorder and destabilize civil and national security by following their accounts on “Twitter” forwarded their tweets”. It is believed that Shehab may still seek a fresh appeal in the case.

Shehab does not appear to have been a leading or particularly active Saudi activist either in the kingdom or in Britain. On Instagram, where she has 159 followers, she describes herself as a dental hygienist, medical educator, PhD student at the University of Leeds and lecturer at Princess Noora bint Abdulrahman University, as well as a wife and mother to sons Noah and Adam.

Her Twitter profile shows that she has 2,597 followers. Along with tweets about Covid and pictures of her young children, Shehab sometimes retweets tweets by Saudi dissidents living in exile who call for the release of the kingdom’s political prisoners.

She appears to have championed the case of Loujan al-Hatlul, a prominent Saudi feminist activist who was previously jailed, allegedly tortured for her support for women’s driving rights, and now lives under a travel ban.

A person who knew Shehab said she could not stand the injustice. She is described as a well-educated and avid reader who arrived in the UK in 2018 or 2019 to do a PhD at Leeds.

She returned to Saudi Arabia on holiday in December 2020 and intended to bring her husband and two children with her to the UK.

She was then called in for questioning by Saudi authorities and eventually arrested and tried for her tweets.

A person following her case says Shehab was kept in solitary confinement at times, and during the trial she wanted to tell the judge something in private about how she was treated that she didn’t want to say to her father. She was not allowed to deliver the message to the judge, the person said. The appealed judgment was signed by three judges, but the signatures were illegible.

Twitter declined to comment on the case and did not respond to specific questions about what, if any, influence Saudi Arabia has over the company. Twitter previously did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about why Prince Mohammed’s top aide, Bader al-Asaqer, was allowed to keep a verified Twitter account with more than 2 million followers, despite US government accusations that he orchestrated illegal infiltration at the company, which led to the identification and imprisonment of anonymous Twitter users by the Saudi government. A former Twitter employee was convicted by a US court in connection with the case.

One of Twitter’s biggest investors is Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns more than 5% of Twitter through his investment company Kingdom Holdings. Although Prince Alwaleed is still chairman of the company, his control of the group has been questioned in the US media, including The Wall Street Journal, after it emerged that the Saudi king – a cousin of the crown prince – was being held captive. at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh for 83 days. The incident was part of a wider purge led by Prince Mohammed against other members of the royal family and businessmen, and included allegations of torture, coercion and the embezzlement of assets worth billions in the Saudi treasury.

In Prince Alwaleed’s 2018 interview with Bloomberg, conducted in Riyadh seven weeks after his release, the billionaire acknowledged that he had reached an “agreement” with the Saudi government, apparently related to his release, which is confidential.

As recently as May, Kingdom Holding announced that it had sold about 17% of its company to PIF, where Prince Mohammed is chairman, for $1.5 billion. This in turn makes the Saudi government a significant indirect investor in Twitter. According to Twitter, investors play no role in managing the day-to-day operations of the company.

The European Saudi Human Rights Organization condemned Shehab’s sentence, which it said was the longest prison sentence ever handed down to an activist. She noted that many female activists were subjected to unfair trials that resulted in arbitrary sentences and were subjected to “severe torture”, including sexual harassment.

Khalid Aljabri, who lives in exile and whose sister and brother are detained in the kingdom, said the Shehab case proved that Saudi Arabia equates dissent with terrorism.

“Salma’s draconian sentence handed down by a terrorism court over peaceful tweets is the latest manifestation of MBS’s ruthless repression machine,” he said, referring to the crown prince. “

Like the assassination of (journalist Jamal) Khashoggi, her sentence is intended to send shockwaves through the kingdom and beyond – if you dare criticize MBS, you will find yourself dismembered or in the Saudi dungeons.”

Although the case did not receive widespread attention, the Washington Post newspaper published a scathing editorial about Saudi Arabia’s treatment of the Leeds student and said her case showed the “commitments” the president had received to reform were a “farce.” .

“At the very least, Mr Biden must now speak out and demand that Ms Shehab be released and allowed to return to her sons, aged 4 and 6, in the UK and continue her education you’re there,” the article says.

Photo by Sora Shimazak / pexels

UN chief pays second call on Ukraine, will visit grain-exporting Black Sea Port

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Newsroom
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UN chief pays second call on Ukraine, will visit grain-exporting Black Sea Port

Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres arrived on Wednesday to Lviv, the largest city in Western Ukraine.

“Tomorrow, he will join President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told a regular press briefing in New York.

“He will go on to visit Odesa and then Istanbul in the following days,” he added.

Checking the grain

During his visit, the UN chief will stop by one of the three Ukrainian ports involved in the framework of the Black Sea Initiative to export wheat grain.

Prior to the start of the conflict in February, Ukraine was exporting up to six million tonnes of grain a month. 

However, the war triggered grain shortages that have left African countries among the most heavily impacted.

Yesterday as the first humanitarian boat under the Initiative left for the Horn of Africa, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, had said that getting the Black Sea Ports open is â€śthe single most important thing we can do right now”.  

“It will take more than grain ships out of Ukraine to stop world hunger, but with Ukrainian grain back on global markets we have a chance to stop this global food crisis from spiraling even further,” he stated. 

Travel ahead

Prior to returning to New York, Mr Guterres will make a stop in Istanbul, Turkey, to visit the Joint Coordinating Centre, the mechanism that supports implementation of the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative on grain exports. 

This is the second call that Mr. Guterres has made on Ukraine after the Russian invasion that began on 24 February. 

The Secretary General first flew to the country at the end of April when he visited the devastated outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, and met with President Zelensky and other high-ranking officials of the country.

The Best Coffee Table Books for Sports Lovers

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News desk
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The Best Coffee Table Books for Sports Lovers

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While I may not read as much as I’d like to, there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting down at a friend’s home and browsing the beautiful books they have displayed on their coffee tables. This is specifically the case when the books are tailored to show off the personal interests and hobbies of my friends. Coffee table books are special because they aren’t just created for the written word, but instead, heavily focus on photographic or artistic imagery and the physical design of the book itself. A good coffee table book is both informative and engaging, as well as aesthetically pleasing.

For sports lovers, there are tons of incredible options. With so much rich history and so much of it recorded in such close detail, you can choose from a number of coffee table books that give you a rich textual and photographic experience of the game you love. However, finding the right coffee table book for the sport you love is still an incredibly difficult process, especially as more and more continue to get made. Instead of spending hours upon hours searching for the absolute perfect choice, check out our list of the best coffee table books for sports lovers.

Boxing is a sport that has the most lore and history behind it. As such, it is nearly impossible to encapsulate the sport let alone one fighter in just a single coffee table book. The Fight instead chooses to give an in-depth visual and textual history of the fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman that took place in Kinshasa, Zaire. Filled with original photographs restored to the best resolution and commentary from Norman Mailer, the book is the most in-depth look at every step of the fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

New York Times Golf History Book

For all the dads out there who spend at least a few Sundays a year watching golf through a perfect afternoon, the New York Times Golf History Book is the perfect addition to any coffee table. Filled with the biggest golf headlines and moments from the entire history of the New York Times, you can travel through time and read exactly what was written about the biggest achievements from golf’s greatest players through the years. Furthermore, you can get the book personally created to have the name of whoever you want to give this gift to.

Ballparks Past and Present

One of the most beautiful parts about sports and in particular, baseball, is the incredible stadiums and arenas in which they are played. Ballparks Past and Present gives you a look at the hundreds of historic ballparks throughout the history of baseball. With so many classic stadiums and fields being destroyed and rebuilt over time, you can get a feeling of what it was like to actually watch a game at some of the most historic stadiums in the game. Furthermore, the book is bound in a beautiful leather cover that only adds to its aesthetic appeal

Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS

For those of us that love the influence and design of the many shoes worn across the wide world of sports, there are few names as influential as Nike. Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS shows off the incredible history of Nike sneakers while also showing off the limitless fashion possibilities of them at the hand of fashion designer Virgil Abloh. The book offers a closer look at the details of what makes Nike shoes and Virgil Abloh’s artistic eye so influential in the world of fashion. The open spine also gives the look of a binder of ideas and the exterior cover shows off the classic bold Taschen design.

Match Point: Tennis by Martin Parr

For those who love the graceful and dramatic game of tennis, Match Point: Tennis by Martin Parr gives you a closer look at some of the most iconic moments, tournaments and players of the game through the unique lens of photographer Martin Parr. Across dozens of Grand Slams, you can see the crowds and emotions of the game at a level you never could before. The book features 85 photos never published prior to this coffee table book for you to experience.

City/Game: Basketball in New York

When it comes to basketball, the game is inextricably linked to the many courts around the city of New York. City/Game: Basketball in New York is the comprehensive history of the game as it has been played in the city. Gathering photos and history from the earliest examples of the game all the way to sold-out crowds watching the Knicks today, the book encompasses the link between New York City and basketball. From the Mecca of Basketball at Madison Square Garden to the street courts in local neighborhoods, this coffee table book is perfect for any basketball lover or city dweller alike.

Sports Illustrated: The Football Book

From the biggest game in the United States to the biggest sports magazine in the world, Sports Illustrated: The Football Book shows off 50 years of Sports Illustrated covering football. From the old-school leather pads all the way to the incredible catches of the modern era, this coffee table book not only shows off some impressive photography of the game’s greatest moments but provides a history of its progression of it from its early days to the nationwide phenomenon it has become.

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WHO warns of disease threat amid Horn of Africa drought

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WHO warns of disease threat amid Horn of Africa drought

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday highlighted the need to support millions facing starvation and disease in the Horn of Africa.

Speaking from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said drought, conflict, climate change and increasing prices for food, fuel and fertilizer, are all contributing to lack of access to sufficient food. 

The countries affected are  Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. 

“Hunger and malnutrition pose a direct threat to health, but they also weaken the body’s defenses, and open the door to diseases including pneumonia, measles and cholera,” he explained.

Tedros said the crisis is forcing some people to choose between paying for food and healthcare,  Many are migrating in search of food, which can put them at increased risk of disease. 

WHO has provided more than $16 million from an emergency fund to address needs, but more support is required. 

The agency is appealing for $123.7 million which will be used to prevent and control outbreaks, treat malnutrition, and provide essential health services as well as medicines. 

Appeal for Tigray 

Tedros said the drought is compounding the “man-made catastrophe” in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopian, where war has raged for nearly two years. 

Some six million people are under siege by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, he said, “sealed off from the outside world, with no telecommunications, no banking services and very limited electricity and fuel.” 

As a result, they are facing multiple outbreaks of malaria, anthrax, cholera, diarrhea and other diseases.  

“This unimaginable cruelty must end. The only solution is peace,” said Tedros.  

At the end of the briefing, he appealed for greater global attention to the situation in Tigray. 

“I can tell you that the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is more than (in) Ukraine, without any exaggeration.  And I said it many months ago, maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray”. 

Ukraine nuclear readiness 

Also at the briefing:

A senior WHO official has underscored the agency’s readiness to respond to any potential nuclear incident in Ukraine. 

Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, was answering a journalist’s question regarding the deteriorating situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. 

WHO has been involved with the Ukrainian authorities since the beginning of the war, he said, including through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

“We’re in constant communication with the IAEA and remain ready as a member of the UN system to react, if there’s a need to react,” said Dr Ryan. 

“A nuclear accident obviously would be catastrophic in the situation, to human life and to the environment, so we do remain concerned about that. We’re guided by our colleagues at the IAEA, and will continue to offer medical response support to them and to the Government of Ukraine.”

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