Category Archives: Syria

“Syrian refugees sell daughters in bid to survive” Reply

Politics, PostAday, Religion, Syria, Women, WOMEN'S RIGHTS, YOUTH • Tags: , , , , , , ,

CBS NEWS

By Clarissa Ward

(CBS News) AMMAN, Jordan — Um Majed’s cell phone rarely stops ringing these days. She calls herself a marriage broker; in reality, she sells Syrian girls to men looking for brides at bargain prices.

“Of course she’s thin,” she tells one client. “She’s been in a camp for a month.”

For many families living in Jordan’s refugee camps, selling their daughters into marriage is the only way to survive. Across the Middle East, it is the custom for the groom to pay the bride’s family, but their desperation is being exploited. Often the marriages are a sham, just a way to have sex. Some last only weeks.

Um Majed gets a cut for every match she makes. Young virgins fetch up to $5,000.

“You want me to get a younger one?” she asks one caller. “Thirteen, fourteen?”

Asked how it feels to marry off a 13-year-old girl, she replies, “Don’t ask me, ask the families. It’s the parents who feel it like a knife to their heart. … But what can they do? We’re in a state of war.”

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“At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw – a little”

AFGHANISTAN, AL JAZEERA AMERICA, FOREIGN POLICY, HUMAN RIGHTS, IRAN, PALESTINE, Russia, SECRETARY JOHN KERRY, Syria • Tags: , , , , , , ,

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

By , Correspondent / May 7, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin (r.) speaks to US Secretary of State John Kerry during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday. Kerry is making his case to Putin for Russia to take a tougher stance on Syria at a time when Israel's weekend air strikes against the beleaguered Mideast nation have added an unpredictable factor to the talks. Mikhail Klimentyev/Presidential Press Service/RIA-Novosti/AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin (r.) speaks to US Secretary of State John Kerry during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday. Kerry is making his case to Putin for Russia to take a tougher stance on Syria at a time when Israel’s weekend air strikes against the beleaguered Mideast nation have added an unpredictable factor to the talks.
Mikhail Klimentyev/Presidential Press Service/RIA-Novosti/AP

MOSCOW – Secretary of State John Kerry huddled in the Kremlin for several hours with President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, in what US officials described as an effort to “intensify” US-Russia dialogue and inject some fresh juice into a bilateral relationship that’s been stumbling aimlessly, amid growing acrimony, for over a year.

More urgently, he told Mr. Putin that Russia and the United States must try harder to forge a common position on the fast-deteriorating situation in Syria, where conflicting charges of chemical weapons usage have alarmed the big powers, and a series of Israeli airstrikes in recent days have raised the specter of a much wider war.

“The United States believes that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria,” Mr. Kerry told Putin.

RECOMMENDED: Vladimir Putin 101: A quiz about Russia’s president

Those mutual interests include promoting stability in the region, blocking extremists from gaining power, and working together to broker a peaceful political transition for the civil war-wracked country, he added.

But according to a brief note posted on the Kremlin’s official website, Putin indicated that he was only interested in a general discussion of “global problems” and would probably wait for his upcoming meetings with President Obama to make any serious decisions.

“I hope to soon meet with [Obama] in person. We will have opportunities to do so several times this year,” Putin wrote.

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“Syrian regime, opposition both condemn Israeli airstrikes”

Barack Obama, FOREIGN POLICY, IRAN, ISRAEL, Politics, PostAday, Russia, Syria • Tags: , , , , , , ,

CBS NEWS

BEIRUT – The Syrian regime and opposition forces found one thing to agree on, albeit for different reasons: They both condemned Israel for carrying out two airstrikes in the Middle Eastern country over the past 48 hours, a major escalation of Israeli involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Israel rushed to beef up its rocket defenses on its northern border Sunday to shield against possible retaliation from both Syria and its patron Iran. Although Syria and Iran hinted at possible retribution, the rhetoric in official statements appeared relatively muted.

Syrian opposition forces also spoke out against the airstrike in a press statement, saying it hurt their efforts to take down the regime of Bashar Assad.

“The Syrian Coalition is suspicious of the timing of this attack,” the statement said. “These strikes have given the regime the necessary time to draw attention away from its crimes and massacres on the Syrian coast. It is not unlikely that as a result of these attacks, and world distraction, more crimes will be committed.”

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“U.S. officials: Israel launches airstrike into Syria”

Politics, PostAday, Syria, WAR

CBS NEWS

Updated 11:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Israel launched an airstrike into Syria, apparently targeting a suspected weapons site, U.S. officials said Friday night.

CBS News correspondent David Martin confirmed that the Israelis did hit a warehouse in Syria. U.S. sources at this point don’t know what was in the target warehouse. It’s also not known whether the Israelis actually entered Syrian airspace to accomplish this, or simply fired their missiles from Israeli airspace.

The strike occurred overnight Thursday into Friday, the officials told The Associated Press. It did not appear that a chemical weapons site was targeted, they said, and one official said the strike appeared to have hit a warehouse.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Israel has targeted weapons in the past that it believes are being delivered to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Syrian President Bashar Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2-year-old uprising. [QUOTE]

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Google Makes Palestine a State

FOREIGN POLICY, ISRAEL, Jews, PALESTINE, political victory, Politics, PostAday, Syria, TERRORISM • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Your support brings hope

Breaking from Newsmax.com

Google Gives ‘Palestine’ a Domain Name

Google is de facto recognizing a state of Palestine.

Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said on Friday that Google had decided to change the name of the Palestinian Territories to just “Palestine” in its products, the Associated Press reports.

Tyler says Google consults with various sources and authorities when naming countries, and in this case is following the lead of several international organizations. The move comes after a U.N. decision last year upgrading the Palestinians‘ status to “non-member observer state.”

Israel says Palestinian statehood should be reached through negotiations, not unilateral moves.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor says Google is not a diplomatic entity, which prompts the question of why it is getting involved in a controversial international political issue.

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“Syrian rebel leader: Regime has used chem weapons”

Barack Obama, HOMELAND SECURITY, political victory, Politics, PostAday, Religion, Syria • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Ghassan Hitto is an American citizen and leader of a coalition of Syrian rebels. He told CBS Newscorrespondent Holly Williams why he got involved in the Syrian conflict and what the U.S. should do to help overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad.

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Sunday on MEET THE PRESS Senator John McCain Opines on Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

AFGHANISTAN, Barack Obama, DEMOCRATS, HOMELAND SECURITY, IRAN, IRAQ, ISRAEL, OBAMACARE, Politics, PostAday, Syria, THE MILITARY, WAR • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., visits Meet the Press to discuss the recent uprising in Syria and the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-...

Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-wife of Syria. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our Next War?

AFGHANISTAN, FAITH, IRAN, IRAQ, JESUS CHRIST, Jews, Politics, PostAday, Religion, Syria • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jesus' Second Coming

Today the hawks would have us continue the war in Afghanistan and start new wars in Iran and Syria. We, a Christian nation, are waging war for democracy and good among Muslim nations that hate us and worship another god.  Why?  I submit that we all are following God’s plan for us, revealed in The Bible:  Revelations.  Have you read it?  Yes, it is difficult to understand.  We have to turn to Bible scholars inspired by God to be His prophet.  World War III, the last war, will be nuclear and will end by Jesus Christ’s devine intervention.  Most of us are unaware how soon the world, as we know it, will end.  Jesus told us to look for signs of His return.  Many of us believe that we witness these signs today and look forward to Christ’s return.

My first experience with war was The Vietnamese War which I avoided fighting through the blessing of having a sliding hiatus hernia.  While in the ROTC program, I naively wrote a paper against the war.  I quickly lost my student deferment and was drafted.  God provided a doctor’s note which I presented in the inductee line and was saved from and early death. Yes, there was “hell to pay” living a life of pain from the hernia.  I accepted that this was a part of God’s plan for me: My own cross to bear.  I sat down to write today’s post with no ideas.  God inspired me write part of my story and bring to you a sermon on the Vietnamese war by Dr. Martin Luther King at the Riverside Church in New York City.  Today I present his address as an


 and the written words.  I pray that they are relevant and will be a blessing for you.   —GoodOleWoody

 

THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION

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HAS SYRIA CROSSED OBAMA’S “RED LINE”?

Barack Obama, CRIME, DEMOCRATS, HOMELAND SECURITY, Human Interest, JUSTICE IN GOVERNANCE, political victory, Politics, REPUBLICANS, Syria • Tags: , , ,

IS DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PREPARED?

No-chemical-weapons

“President Obama Call for Two-State Solution in Middle East”

Barack Obama, Democracy, EDUCATION, IRAN, ISRAEL, Jews, JUSTICE IN GOVERNANCE, PALESTINE, Politics, Syria • Tags: , , , , , , ,

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