Saturday, May 31, 2014

DON'T FORGIVE - DON'T FORGET - BE A BULLDOG, NOT A WORM

 
 
As long as people forgive evil,
It will continue to grow, spread and thrive.
 
Evil  flourishes in forgiveness,
Like weeds in dung.
 
The evil ones have nothing to lose.
They laugh at the law,
They mock their victims.
 
If you are honourable and true,
Hold fast,
Stand firm.
 
Never forgive.
Never forget.
Never let go.
Never give up.
 
The punishment must fit the crime.
 
Demand justice without ceasing !
 

WHY IS AFGHANISTAN'S "CHIEF TORTURER" LIVING IN CALIFORNIA ?

 
 
Remember the Nazi Werner Von Braun ?
How many Nazi murders were welcomed to the USA
And Canada ?
 
Politics makes strange bedfellows
But when you crawl into bed with vermin,
Expect to be bitten.
 
 
Haji Gulalainow, a former Afghan spy services chief, now lives in a two-storey pink house in a Los Angeles suburbs with his family
 
 
During the height of his tenure as Afghanistan's notorious 'torturer-in-chief' he was feared by his victims, subjecting them to electric shocks and vicious beatings.

But now Haji Gulalai, the former head of Afghan spy services, has allegedly forged a new life in Southern California, where he is said to occupy a pink, two-storey stucco house in a quiet Los Angeles suburb.

Gulalai, now in his early 60s, was once a key figure in the Afghanistan war - 'a big wheel in a machine that ground up a lot of people', the Washington Post reports.

In Kandahar he ran the spy services operations following the US-led invasion in 2001. How he left behind that brutal career in Afghanistan and landed in L.A. - in an area that is said to remind him of the dry heat and landscape of Kandahar - is unclear.

Gulalai was able to bypass immigration barriers faced by Afghans whose work for the United States made them potential targets of the Taliban, the paper reports.

Despite links to the United States intelligence services, the CIA denied aiding his entry.
He was among a group of Pashtuns who were chosen to try and seize the Taliban stronghold, and had previously been involved in CIA-backed efforts to oust Soviet forces.

Gulalai, whose real name is Kamal Achakzai, went on to lead the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which was funded by U.S. intelligence agencies and faced allegations of human rights abuses.
 
 
New life: Gulalai, then an Afghan intelligence chief, is in sunglasses to the right of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2002

New life: Gulalai, then an Afghan intelligence chief, is in sunglasses to the right of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2002

A secret memo from 2007 named Gulalai as the main culprit behind the the NDS's 'systematic' torturing.

It said he was 'personally involved in conducting beatings amounting to torture, in detaining suspects illegally and arbitrarily and in deliberately and systematically evading detention monitoring.'

His methods were said to include sleep deprivation for as long as 13 days and would suspend inmates from the ceiling with handcuffs.

Some claimed his extreme tactics even pushed neutral Afghans towards enemy factions. However his supporters have said his job was crucial to the protection of the city.

In the Southern California community he now allegedly calls home, Gulalai is said to be surrounded by a network of Afghans.

The front yard of his L.A. property has a locked gate, is surrounded by a white fence and has citrus trees scattered around it.

Bashir Wasifi, who attended school with Gulalai in the 1960s before moving to the California in 1979 said: 'We see each other every weekend, we play cards together.'
'His position was a cruel position so he did cruel things, but he is not like that.'
He claimed the former officer arrived with more than a dozen of his relatives.

Since he has settled in the community, he is said to have learned little English and is unemployed.

Neighbours said he lives with a number of children, ranging in age from toddlers to someone in their twenties.

Since he has moved, the UN have begun a more comprehensive investigation into the methods used by the NDS.
 
Oppositon: Retired General John R Allen stopped prison transfers to the NDS because of fears over human rights abuses

Oppositon: Retired General John R Allen stopped prison transfers to the NDS because of fears over human rights abuses

Retired Marine General John R. Allen suspended prisoner transfers to the security service after reports of abuse, and said the organisation relied on torture as an institutional 'reflex'.

During his time as a leading intelligence official, he was said to have operated under a 'culture of impunity' because of his link to international organisations.

The Taliban tried to kill him on numerous occasions and supporting factions tried to remove him from his post.

He was nearly fired twice from the NDS, after UN Officials tried to persuade the then head Armullah Saleh to fire him.

But the orders were not followed because of ethnic politics and he was subsequently promoted and ended up in charge of the main prison in Kabul.
 

HORROR ! CHILDREN SOLD FOR THEIR BODY PARTS - MEXICO, CHINA - AND SICILY?

 
 
Mexican authorities investigating the cartel "Templars" for organ trafficking and initiation rites in which its members forced to eat human hearts, said the Michoacán security commissioner Alfredo Castillo.

A report broke yesterday about Caballeros Templarios and organ trafficking.  I was awaiting information to complete this report, which you will find below.

Michoacán Secretary of State, Carlos Hugo Castellanos Becerra, announced the arrest of Manuela Plancarte, 34, in possession of a stolen vehicle.  However, that isn't the big story, aside from being related to Enrique Plancarte Solís, aka Kike, leader of Caballeros Templarios, he is being investigated for organ trafficking.

Michoacán State indicates that Manuel Plancarte is being investigated for the death of minors who then harvested their organs and sold them.  Arrested with  Plancarte was  Ricardo Morales also accused of being linked to a network of traffic organs from children who were kidnapped and taken to safe houses

The commissioner added that fallen leader El Chayo is suspected of forcing Templarios to consume organs as a test of courage or if there had been a betrayal.

Dr Mireles has been quoted in the media frenzy of yesterday about an incident where children were discovered in a truck in Michoacán destined for organ trafficking, some reports stated the children were dead and in ice coolers. 

Having personal knowledge that organs must have blood flow and oxygen upon harvesting, or they are not usable, I had some questions, I received the answers today form Dr Mireles.
 
http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2014/12/159271bf2ca85689ef5adcb2ce9ada5632bdbf8d.jpg
Alfredo Castillo
 
Information from a checkpoint guard, a refrigerated van was stopped in Tepalcatepec in December 2012, at 2 am.  (I was given the guards name, but will not use it. He was in charge of the case and wrote the report)
 
The van drivers said they were going to the island. (Lazaro Cardenas Port) and that they were lost, they asked for directions.  They acted suspiciously.
 
When the van was inspected, friends of Dr Mireles (guards)  found 7 children wearing Mexico City school uniforms, and wrapped in blankets. When the children were questioned, they related that their parents had authorized for them to be taken on a beach trip.  The parents were contacted and instructed to come and take the children home.
The drivers, a man and a woman, were questioned further. They admitted  that they were going to take children for the business of the trafficking of organs.
 
Rumors have surrounded the Templarios cartel for about as long as they have been in existence, in 2011 after the first "death" of Nazario Moreno aka "El Chayo".
Organ hawking is clearly an alluring market,   On the black market a kidney fetches 150k USD or  higher.  In the United States there are 95k patients on the waiting list for a kidney, half will die without receiving one.
 
In many Asian countries, selling a kidney is legal.  This opened the door for organized crime to diversify into a new market. People began being kidnapped, initially for a kidney.  Mostly peasants or by using employment scams to draw impoverished people from within the country or drawing from outside the country.  Victims would often be paid 2-4K for a kidney. 
Later the market demands for other organs became irresistible for organized crime, who structured a system of scouts, and brokers to accommodate the market. 
 
In China, a person will be kidnapped by the scouts and delivered to a medical facility staffed with doctors who don't ask questions and do not care what is transpiring.  They harvest the organs. 
 
http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2014/12/bdccc6cbde9cf1283431c8d0767c4133c1047c5d.jpg
 
Organ trafficking is a billion dollar business in China. 
There was a recent heart wrenching case in which a 6 year old boy was kidnapped and was found abandon in a field, crying and bloody.  His eyes had been removed, presumably for the corneas. 
 
The World Health Organization estimates there are upwards of 7000 kidneys sold on the black market each year.  Others think that number is grossly underestimated.
 
In Mexico, there was a case of 4 missing indigenous children, kidnapped on their walk to school.  A few days later their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave, the chest cavity of each had been opened and organs removed.  State officials quickly stifled the story and declared there was no indication of organ harvesting in this case or any.  I read the account in a regional newspaper which also ran the photos of the four children, when I returned to the website the following day, the story had been deleted.
I had always been a skeptic of the organ trafficking rumors because of the enormity of necessary logistics in harvesting, to assure the integrity of the organ.  Not to mention the time element, an average of 11 hours from harvesting to transplant, in the most favorable conditions. These would include heart, pancreas, kidneys, intestine, and liver.  Corneas, skin and bone have a life of up to 5 years.

However, knowing how the black market organ industry functions in China, there is absolutely no reason why organized crime groups in Mexico can't do likewise. One can imagine that for a lure of high payment, a medical facility and low paid, unscrupulous doctors, can be  accessed… who will harvest the organs…no questions asked. 

Source: http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/03/caballeros-templarios-human-organ.html

http://beforeitsnews.com/immigration/2014/03/caballeros-templarios-human-organ-trafficking-and-used-for-rituals-2448034.html

THE DARK SHADOW OF FASCISM IN UKRAINE - SVOBODA ECHOES THE NAZI PLAGUE

 
Activists of the Svoboda (Freedom) Ukrainian nationalist party shout slogans as they take part in a rally marking the 71st anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
Activists of the Svoboda (Freedom) party march to mark the 71st anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and carry portraits of its leader, Stepan Bandera. Reuters
 
 
The violent anti-government street protests that have rocked the Eastern European nation of Ukraine include a smorgasbord of opposition groups and dissenters who strongly object to the rule of President Viktor Yanukovych and the purported influence of Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the nation's affairs. Clashes between rioters and police have already killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 250.

The most controversial element of the anti-government alliance is Svoboda (Freedom), an extreme right-wing political party that not only has representation in parliament, but has been dubbed by its critics as a neo-Nazi organization. Britain's Channel 4 News reported that Svoboda has assumed a "leading role" in the street protests in Kiev, with affiliated paramilitary groups prominently involved in the disturbances. Svoboda flags and banners have been featured in the demonstrations at Kiev's Independence Square. During the continuing street riots, one Svoboda MP, Igor Myroshnychenko, created an iconic moment of sorts when he allegedly helped to topple the statue of Vladimir Lenin outside a government building, followed by its occupation by protesters.

However, despite its extremist rhetoric, Svoboda cannot be called a "fringe" party – indeed, it currently occupies 36 seats in the 450-member Ukrainian parliament, granting it status as the fourth-largest party in the country. Further, Svoboda is linked to other far-right groups across Europe through its membership in the Alliance of European National Movements, which includes the British National Party (BNP) of the United Kingdom and Jobbik, the neo-fascist, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma party of Hungary. The leader of Svoboda, Oleh Tyahnybok, who has appeared at the Kiev protests, has a long history of making inflammatory anti-Semitic statements, including the accusation during a 2004 speech before parliament that Ukraine is controlled by a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia." Miroshnychenko also called the Ukrainian-born American film actress Mila Kunis a "dirty Jewess."

Tyahnybok has also claimed that "organized Jewry" dominate Ukrainian media and government, have enriched themselves through criminal activities and plan to engineer a "genocide" upon the Christian Ukrainian population. Another top Svoboda member, Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn, a deputy in parliament, often quotes Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, as well as other Third Reich luminaries like Ernst Rohm and Gregor Strasser.

In response to Svoboda's anti-Semitic rhetoric, the World Jewish Congress has called for the party to be banned. Indeed, some public events for Ukraine's tiny Jewish community have recently been canceled over fears of violence. At least two Jews, including an Orthodox student named Dovbear Glickman, have been attacked and beaten by gangs recently – although these assaults have not been linked directly to Svoboda.

In the meantime, if Svoboda and other far-right groups gain greater exposure through their involvement in the protests, there are fears they could gain more sympathy and support from a public grown weary of political corruption and Russian influence on Ukraine.

European and Israeli leaders expressed shock in October 2012, when Svoboda gained more than 10 percent of the electorate in parliamentary elections, entering the legislature for the first time. (In some western regions of Ukraine, Svoboda gained as much as 40 percent of the vote.) As recently as the 2007 parliamentary elections, Svoboda garnered less than 1 percent of the total vote. Founded in 1991 as the Social-National Party of Ukraine, Svoboda has apparently appealed to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians tired of economic woes and rampant corruption in government. Reports also suggest that the party has derived significant support from the well educated and the young, who suffer from high unemployment.

Among other things, Svoboda seeks to end all immigration and ensure that all civil service jobs are filled by ethnic Ukrainians. The Nation, a leftist American publication, reported that Svoboda also seeks to ban abortions, abolish gun control, "ban the Communist ideology," and prohibit the adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners. In addition, Svoboda reportedly supports nuclear power (in the homeland of Chernobyl) and reinstatement of the death penalty.

Britain's Channel 4 News reported that Svoboda originally used a "wolf's angel" heraldic cross that somewhat resembled the Nazi swastika as its symbol. Limiting its membership to ethnic Ukrainians, Svoboda also had links to a paramilitary organization called Patriots of Ukraine, which has also stepped into the current imbroglio, leading charges against anti-riot police and shouting nationalist slogans like "Glory to the nation! Death to enemies!" and "Ukraine above all!"

Svoboda glorifies fascist figures and related slogans from Ukraine's past – on New Year's Day, 15,000 Svoboda members and their followers marched in honor of controversial Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, who fought against the Soviets during the Second World War and had ties to Nazi Germany. His Ukrainian Insurgent Army allegedly took part in the massacre of thousands of Ukrainian Jews and Poles. Tyahnybok has repeatedly sought inspiration from Ukrainian insurgents who fought in World War II. "They did not fear, but took up their automatic rifles, going into the woods to fight Muscovites, Germans, Jewry and other filth which wanted to take away our Ukrainian nationhood. It's time to give Ukraine to the Ukrainians," he said.

Responding to concerns about his party's anti-Semitism, Tyahnybok insisted Svoboda is pro-Ukrainian and not hostile to any other group. "I respect the position of [Israel], which defends the interests of its citizens," he said after the parliamentary elections. "I would like to ask Israelis to also respect our patriotic feelings. Probably each party in the [Israeli parliament] Knesset is nationalist. With God's help, let it be this way for us too." Also, in refuting charges of anti-Semitism, Svoboda frequently notes that, like the Jews, Ukrainians also suffered a holocaust -- Joseph Stalin's induced famine in the 1930s which killed millions.

Svoboda also assails nonwhites. In February, Yuriy Syrotiuk, a Svoboda spokesman, expressed his unhappiness that Gaitana-Lurdes Essami, a half-Ukrainian, half-Congolese singer, represented Ukraine in the Eurovision music contest, citing that she "is not an organic representative of the Ukrainian culture." Moreover, Svoboda expresses extreme hostility towards homosexuals – party members once attacked and sprayed tear gas at the participants of a gay rights rally in the capital Kiev.

Separately, the integrity and retention of Ukrainian language and culture also represents a pillar of Svoboda's ideology. Alarmed by the expanding use of the Russian tongue in public and government, the party has advocated for the banning of the foreign language. Among other measures, Svoboda demands that all parliamentarians speak Ukrainian instead of Russian. The Svoboda party has also opposed the renaming of streets in the country to Russian-friendly titles. Indeed, Moscow appears to draw the most opprobrium from Svoboda, which alleges Russia is still suppressing the Ukraine and frustrating its integration with the European Union.

Clearly, Svoboda is now taking advantage of the enormous media attention focused upon the Kiev protests. Sergey Kirichuk, an anti-fascist in Ukraine, told Channel 4 News: "When left-wing groups tried to join the protests they were attacked and beaten by fascists. Svoboda are leading ideologically now. Fascism is like a fashion now, with more and more people getting involved." The Nation reported that other right-wing parties, including Trident (a group of nationalist soccer hooligans) and an ultra-right wing group called Right Sector have also participated in the Kiev protests.

The Nation criticized Western media for playing down the presence of far-right groups in the Euromaidan protests roiling Ukraine. Maksim Butkevich, the coordinator of an anti-discrimination NGO called the No Borders Project of the Center for Social Action, told The Nation that far-right groups have climbed in popularity since the eruption of the protests in November. "I wouldn't say it's big, that huge numbers of activists will join far-right groups after this, but they became more acceptable and in a way more mainstream than before for many active citizens," Butkevich said. But Butkevich warned that if the protests force the resignation of Yanukovych and a new election, nationalists, including Svoboda, could seek to consolidate its apparent gains in the public approval.

The bitter irony of the current protests in Kiev is that while groups like Svoboda are adamantly opposed to the pro-Russian policies of Yanukovych, they also find the "pro-European," pro-democracy stance of most other Euromaidan protesters anathema. Yury Noyevy, a member of Svoboda's political council, even revealed that the party's pro-EU stance is only temporary, a device to break off from Russia. "The participation of Ukrainian nationalism and Svoboda in the process of EU integration is a means to break our ties with Russia," Noyevy said. Indeed, a report in The Guardian noted that most of the protesters in Kiev are not interested in democracy at all. "You'd never know from most of the reporting that far-right nationalists and fascists have been at the heart of the protests and attacks on government buildings," Seumas Milne wrote in the liberal British paper. "Ukrainians are deeply divided about both European integration and the protests – largely along an axis between the largely Russian-speaking east and south (where the Communist Party still commands significant support), and traditionally nationalist Western Ukraine. Industry in the east is dependent on Russian markets, and would be crushed by EU competition."

http://www.ibtimes.com/euromaidan-dark-shadows-far-right-ukraine-protests-1556654

NIGERIAN WOMEN ATTACK BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS

 

alt

Local women in the villages of Attagara and Kawuri in Borno State disarmed 10 Boko Haram terrorists who tried to attack their communities over the weekend resulting in the lynching of seven of the insurgents.

As part of its ongoing reign of terror, Boko Haram tried to spread its operations to Attagara and Kawuri villages in Gwoza and Bama Local Government Areas of Borno State. However, they were resisted by a group of women using local charms among other things and were disarmed.

After the women repelled the attacks, they then raised the alarm and the rest of the community rallied round to apprehend the insurgents. Three of the terrorists fled but seven were arrested and lynched by an irate mob.

One  resident said the attackers invaded the village yesterday on motorcycles but ran into the  women and wanted to hit them with sticks but when they raised the sticks, their hands refused to descend. The women then notified the local vigilante group, which rushed to the scene, disarmed the seven insurgents and lynched them.

According to the resident: "Three of the insurgents fled but seven were not lucky as the women alerted the people."

Attagara, a border community with Cameroon is about 10 kilometres southeast of Pulka District in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and about 130 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital. Of late, local people across Borno state have stepped up the fightback against Boko Haram, having borne the brunt of its brutal terrorist campaign.

Yesterday, scores of gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram were killed yesterday through the combined efforts of members of the vigilante youths, otherwise known as the Civilian Joint Task Force and the military in Kawuri village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. Mamman Yakubu, a vigilante youth that participated in repelling the insurgents, said they lynched the terrorists because Boko Haram members hardly reveal any secrets when arrested.

One top security source, who confirmed the incident, said that three dead bodies of the terrorists were recovered yesterday morning in Kawuri. He added that more of the terrorists were killed in a nearby bus, close to Kawuri when they attempted to flee to the Sambisa Forest.

http://www.nigerianwatch.com/news/4482-local-borno-village-womens-group-repels-boko-haram-attack-on-their-communities#sthash.0YQEAuaW.dpuf

SVOBODA - ANTISEMITISM - UKRAINE AND THE WEST - NAZIS AS ALLIES

 
"THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND"
 
But when you go to bed with vermin,
You should expect to be bitten.
 
 
This article was first published by GR on February 26, 2014.

In recent developments, following the distribution of fake antisemitic leaflets in Donesk, the Western media has intimated that the pro-Russian federalist movement is integrated by neo-Nazis involved in threats against the Jewish community of Eastern Ukraine.

The Eastern Ukraine protest movement is accused of "unleashing a neo-Nazi wave against local Jews".

Ironically, the Eastern Ukraine federalists –which include members of the Jewish community– have been the object of terrorist acts conducted by the two US-EU supported neo-Nazi parties (Svoboda and the Right Party), which according to the Western media are described as "ultra-conservative".
 
On April 19, in Slavyansk, Right Sector militants were involved in the killing of innocent civilians. The Right Sector –which is part of the government coalition–, overseas together with Svoboda, the civilian National Guard. The latter is supported by US-NATO.

The Ukraine's National Security and National Defense Committee (RNBOU) which is controlled by Neo-Nazis plays a central role in military affairs. In the confrontation with Moscow, decisions taken by the RNBOU headed by Neo-Nazi Andrij Parubiy and his brown Shirt deputy Dmytro Yarosh –in consultation with Washington and Brussels– could potentially have devastating consequences. " (Michel Chossudovsky, March 2, 2014)

This article sets the record straight. It establishes the complicity of US-NATO-EU in supporting neo-Nazi groups responsible for terrorist acts directed against Ukraine's Jewish community.

Michel Chossudovsky, April 20, 2014

The US and the EU are supporting the formation of a coalition government integrated by Neo-Nazis which are directly involved in the repression of the Ukrainian Jewish community.

There are about 200,000 Jews living in Ukraine, most of them in Kiev. This community is described as "one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in the world, with dozens of active Jewish organizations and institutions". A significant part of this community is made up of family members of holocaust survivors. "Three million Ukrainians were murdered by the Nazis during their occupation of Ukraine, including 900,000 Jews." (indybay.org, January 29, 2014).

Ukrainian Jews were the target of the Third Reich's Einsatzgruppen (Task Groups or Deployment Groups) which were supported by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators (Wikipedia). These "task forces" were paramilitary death squads deployed in occupied territories.
 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Holocaust-Ukraine_big_legend1.png

Source: Dennis Nilsson wikimedia.org

Contemporary Neo-Nazi Threat against Ukraine's Jewish community

While the Western media has not covered the issue, the contemporary Neo-Nazi threat against the Jewish community in the Ukraine is real. Ukrainian Neo-Nazis pay tribute to Stepan Bandera, a World War II-era Nazi collaborator who led the pro-Nazi Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B). The contemporary Neo-Nazi Svoboda Party which is supported by Washington follows in the footsteps of the OUN-B.

The OUN-B was also responsible for the genocide conducted against Poles within Ukraine.

Reuters / Gleb Garanich


Neo-Nazis Honoring Stepan Bandera

Reports from Kiev confirm that the Jewish community is the target of the Right Sector and the Neo-Nazi Svoboda party, which is supported and financed through various channels by Washington and Brussels:

"Ukrainian Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman asked Kiev Jews to leave the city and, if possible, the country, due to fears that Jews might be targeted [by Svoboda Brown Shirts] in the ongoing chaos. … Some Jewish shops have been vandalized and other threats to the Jewish community have been received.

"I told my congregation to leave the city center or the city all together and if possible the country too… I don't want to tempt fate…but there are constant warnings concerning intentions to attack Jewish institutions," Rabbi Azman told Maariv. (JN, February 24, 2014)

The leaders of the Ukrainian Jewish Community contacted Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman requesting the assistance of Israel. (Edward Dolinsky, head of the umbrella organization of Ukraine's Jews).

Israel –which is unofficially a member of the Western military alliance (US-NATO-Israel)– has remained mum on the subject: Real Politik Uber Alles. No statement has emanated from Tel Aviv. The Israeli government has not responded to the request of the Ukrainian Jewish Community nor has it made any statements.

America's pro-Israeli lobby The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has not taken a stance on the issue. Not a word from Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Western Media: Talking about the Neo-Nazi Threat to Ukraine's Jewish Community is Taboo

Within the Western media, news coverage of the Neo-Nazi threat to the Jewish community in Ukraine is a taboo. There is a complete media blackout: confirmed by Google News search, mainstream coverage of the threat to the Jewish community in Ukraine is virtually absent.

An article in the current issue of The New York Review of Books constitutes the pinnacle of falsehood and media distortion. The Jewish community in Ukraine is portrayed as an unbending supporter of the Maidan protest movement led by Right Sector Neo-Nazis:

The protesters represent every group of Ukrainian citizens: Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers (although most Ukrainians are bilingual), people from the cities and the countryside, people from all regions of the country, members of all political parties, the young and the old, Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Every major Christian denomination is represented by believers and most of them by clergy. The Crimean Tatars march in impressive numbers, and Jewish leaders have made a point of supporting the movement.

In its broader coverage of the Ukraine "protest movement", the Western media has failed to acknowledge the nature of the opposition, casually referring to "radical elements".

What is not mentioned is that these "radical elements" supported and financed by the West are Neo-Nazis who are waging a hate campaign against Ukraine's Jewish community.
 
http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/civilisation-ukrainian-style-vandalising-the-memorials-to-the-soldiers-of-the-anti-hitler-coalition/reunion-of-ss-and-upa-in-2006/
Reunion of SS and UPA Nazi collaborators and their supporters in 2006 in the Ukraine. Civilisation Ukrainian-Style: Vandalising the Memorials to the Soldiers of the Anti-Hitler Coalition

The Israeli Media and the State of Israel

The Israeli media toes the line. The hate campaign against the Ukrainian Jewish community is not the object of concern. The Jerusalem Post casually dismisses the evidence of crimes committed against Ukraine's Jewish community under the title:
"Although there is "no information of Jews being targeted" as of yet, Jewish institutions are under self-imposed lock-down".

According to the JP, there is no "defined threat against them":

"There is currently "no information of Jews being targeted, but there is a danger because of vigilante groups," Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

"We have not seen any random attacks and we hope people are basically interested in law and order and not in mayhem," he said, expressing his hope that protesters would begin turning in their arms tomorrow as scheduled.

"We are definitely worried about security and everybody should keep their guard up," the American-born rabbi cautioned. "That's because of the general situation. There are no threats that we know of."

There is a great deal of uncertainty among Kiev's Jews, said one community member, speaking anonymously.She said that while there has been no direct threat against Jewish institutions, two Jews were attacked during the protests and the general feeling of insecurity pervading the city has affected its Jews as well.

Things will calm down within a week, but life is still far from normal at the moment, she said." (Ukraine's Jews ponder their future, Jerusalem Post-Feb 24, 2014)

According to "expert opinion" quoted by the JP, the spread of swastikas in Kiev's urban landscape should be of no concern. According to Vyacheslav Likhachev, "an expert on the far-right associated with the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress", the Svoboda Neo-Nazi activists are not attacking Jews. In an utterly twisted logic expert Likhachev quoted by the JP intimates that the (former) Yanukovych government is responsible for anti-semitic violence;

The two incidents of anti-Semitic violence since the beginning of the protests, he alleged, were most likely provocations by the government looking for a pretext to clamp down on its political opponents.

"There is no real special danger for the Jewish community due to anti-Semitism from protesters," he said.

According to Likhachev, the authorities tried to recruit him to take part in a propaganda campaign against the protesters and he believes that, given the lack of emphasis placed on Jews and other ethnic minorities by the opposition, including such factions as Svoboda, it is more likely that the attacks were part of this alleged campaign. (Ibid)

According to the JP, the issue is one of "transition", which will be resolved once a new government is installed .

"Despite his [Likhashov's] optimism fear pervades the local Jewish community, as it does the entire Ukraine, during the transition period."

Ironically, while the Israeli media dismisses the matter, the Arab media has provided a far more balanced assessment of the threat to the Jewish community in Ukraine.

Rabbis in Kiev and across Ukraine spoke out, warning their congregations to stay off the streets and remain in their homes. The Jewish Agency in Jerusalem has moved swiftly to offer aid to elderly Jews living in greater Kiev. Food-delivery men are braving gunshots and Molotov cocktails to help them. Reports from Kiev say the police have been replaced by roving bands of undetermined loyalty.

The fresh report of the firebombing of a new synagogue in Zaporizhia, 250 miles southeast of Kiev, increased the alarm in Israel and accelerated planning for all contingencies, including evacuations. (John Batchelor, Ultranationalist neo-Nazi parties on the march in Ukraine, Al Jazeera, February 25, 2014


Neo-Nazi Svoboda Party Oleh Tyahnybok. Below with US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland

nuland in ukraine
US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland together with Neo Nazi Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok, left


The Politics of Anti-Semitism: Anti-Semitism Practiced at a Political Level

http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mccain-and-svoboda-leader.png

Ironically, while renowned scholars critical of the State of Israel for violating the fundamental rights of Palestinians are accused of being "anti-semitic", nobody bats an eye lid when John McCain (see image right with the leader of the Neo-Nazi Svoboda Party Oleh Tyahnybok, centre), Victoria Nuland (image above together with Oleh Tyahnybok, left), EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (also with Oleh Tyahnybok, left), John Kerry, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel (among others) openly pay lip service to Neo-Nazism in the Ukraine.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ashtonwith-svobodaleader.jpg

Is the Western media "anti-semitic" when it fails to report crimes committed against the Jewish population in Ukraine?


Is the self-proclaimed "international community" anti-semitic when it upholds in the name of "democracy" a "protest movement" led by Neo-Nazis? Is Netanyahu an anti-semite by tacitly supporting US-EU-NATO geopolitical interests in Ukraine, with total disregard to the rising tide of fascism and anti-semitism?


http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-and-the-politics-of-anti-semitism-west-up

holds-neo-nazi-repression-of-ukraines-jewish-community/5370790

BABY POWDER - TALCUM - LINKED TO CANCER

 

Who has not soothed their dear baby's bottom with Johnson's Baby Powder? Who has not enjoyed a generous dusting of Shower to Shower or some other beautifully perfumed powders?

It takes decades before someone tells us we have endangered our lives, the health of our babies, with the use of commonly marketed products.

Who is responsible?

Phyllis Carter

 

Talcum powder is made from talc, a mineral made up mainly of the elements magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. As a powder, it absorbs moisture well and helps cut down on friction, making it useful for keeping skin dry and helping to prevent rashes. It is widely used in cosmetic products such as baby powder and adult body and facial powders, as well as in a number of other consumer products.

In its natural form, some talc may contain asbestos, a substance known to cause cancers in and around the lungs when inhaled (see our document, Asbestos). All home-use talcum products in the United States have been asbestos-free since the 1970s.

Most concerns about a possible link between talcum powder and cancer have been focused on 2 main areas:

  • Whether people who have long-term exposure to natural talc fibers at work, such as talc miners, are at higher risk from lung cancer from breathing them in.
  • Whether women who apply talcum powder regularly in the genital area have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

When talking about whether or not talcum powder is linked to cancer, it is important to distinguish between talc that contains asbestos and talc that is asbestos-free. Talc that has asbestos is generally accepted as being able to cause cancer if it is inhaled. This type of talc is not used in modern consumer products. The evidence about asbestos-free talc, which is still widely used, is less clear.

Researchers use 2 main types of studies to try to determine if a substance or exposure causes cancer.

One type of study looks at cancer rates in different groups of people. Such a study might compare the cancer rate in a group exposed to a substance versus the rate in a group not exposed to it, or compare it to what the expected cancer rate would be in the general population. But studies of people can sometimes be hard to interpret, because there may be other factors affecting the results that are hard to account for.

In studies in lab animals, other factors are easier to control for, but it's not always clear if the results in animals would be the same in humans.

In most cases neither type of study provides definitive evidence on its own, so researchers usually look at both human and lab-based studies.

Studies that exposed lab animals (rats, mice, and hamsters) to asbestos-free talc in various ways have had mixed results, with some showing tumor formation and others not finding any.

It has been suggested that talcum powder might cause cancer in the ovaries if the powder particles (applied to the genital area or on sanitary napkins, diaphragms, or condoms) were to travel through the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes to the ovary. Several studies in women have looked at the possible link between talcum powder and cancer of the ovary. Findings are mixed, with some studies reporting a slightly increased risk and some reporting no increase.

For any individual woman, the overall increase in risk, if it exists, is likely to be small. For example, one analysis combining data from 16 studies published before 2003 found about a 30% increase in ovarian risk among talc users. The average woman's lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is about 1.4%, so even with a 30% increase, her lifetime risk would be about 1.8%. Still, talc is widely used in many products, so it is important to determine if the increased risk is real. Research in this area continues.

Some studies of talc miners and millers have suggested an increased risk of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, while others have found no increase in lung cancer risk. These studies have been complicated by the fact that talc in its natural form may contain varying amounts of asbestos and other minerals, unlike the purified talc in consumer products. When working underground, miners may also be exposed to other substances that might affect lung cancer risk, such as radon.

No increased risk of lung cancer has been reported with the use of cosmetic talcum powder.

Talc use has not been strongly linked to other cancers, although not all possible links with other cancers have been studied extensively. One recent study suggested genital talcum powder use may slightly increase the risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer in women who are past menopause, but further studies are needed to explore this possible link.

Several agencies (national and international) study different substances in the environment to determine if they can cause cancer. (A substance that causes cancer or helps cancer grow is called a carcinogen.) The American Cancer Society looks to these organizations to evaluate the risks based on evidence from laboratory, animal, and human research studies.

A few expert agencies have evaluated the cancer-causing nature of talc.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer.

  • IARC classifies talc that contains asbestos as "carcinogenic to humans."
  • Based on the lack of data from human studies and on limited data in lab animal studies, IARC classifies inhaled talc not containing asbestos as "not classifiable as to carcinogenicity in humans."
  • Based on limited evidence from human studies, IARC classifies the perineal (genital) use of talc-based body powder as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of several different US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NTP has not fully reviewed talc (with or without asbestos) as a possible carcinogen.

(For more information on the classification systems used by these agencies, see our document, Known and Probable Human Carcinogens.)

It is not clear if consumer products containing talcum powder increase cancer risk. Studies of personal use of talcum powder have had mixed results, although there is some suggestion of a possible increase in ovarian cancer risk. There is very little evidence at this time that any other forms of cancer are linked with consumer use of talcum powder.

Until more information is available, people concerned about using talcum powder may want to avoid or limit their use of consumer products that contain it. For example, they may want to consider using cornstarch-based cosmetic products instead. There is no evidence at this time linking cornstarch powders with any form of cancer.

The following related information may also be helpful to you. These materials may be viewed on our website or ordered from our toll-free number, at 1-800-227-2345.

Asbestos

Known and Probable Human Carcinogens

No matter who you are, we can help. Contact us anytime, day or night, for information and support. Call us at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

© 2014 American Cancer Society, Inc. All rights reserved. The American Cancer Society is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Cancer.org is provided courtesy of the Leo and Gloria Rosen family.

Friday, May 30, 2014

WORLD WAR ll FORGOTTEN - FASCISM IS GROWING RAPIDLY IN EUROPE

 
 
Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen's Front National party came first in three exit polls with more than 25% of the vote. Photograph: Remy De La Mauviniere/AP
 

European politics were jolted as seldom before on Sunday when France's extreme nationalists triumphed in the European parliament elections, which across the continent returned an unprecedented number of MEPs hostile or sceptical about the European Union in a huge vote of no confidence in Europe's political elite.

France's Front National won the election there with a projected 25% of the vote, while the governing socialists of President François Hollande collapsed to 14%, according to exit polls.

In Britain the Nigel Farage-led insurrection against Westminster was also expected by all three main parties to deliver a victory for Ukip in the election, albeit with a lower lead than some opinion polls had been predicting in recent weeks. Turnout in Britain was 36%, higher than at the last European elections in 2009.

Four days of elections across 28 countries returned a record number of MEPs opposed to the EU project. Voters delivered a string of sensational outcomes, according to exit polls, with radical and nationalist anti-EU forces scoring major victories both on the far right and the hard left.

In Greece, Alexis Tsipras led the Syriza movement to a watershed victory for the left over the country's two traditional ruling parties – currently governing in coalition – the New Democracy conservatives and the Pasok social democrats. The neo-fascists of Golden Dawn took about 10%.

Exit polls suggest the nationalist anti-immigrant Danish People's party won by a similar margin in Denmark.

Morten Messerschmidt Morten Messerschmidt of the Danish People's party, arrives at the Danish parliament in Copenhagen after his party won the European election. Photograph: Olesen Peter Hove/AP

In Austria the far-right Freedom party was projected to take a fifth of the vote. In Hungary, the neo-fascist Jobbik movement took around 15%.

On the hard left, Sinn Féin did well in Ireland, and Die Linke took about 8% in Germany. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) scored an expected easy victory, but the EU's most powerful state, also returned its first Eurosceptics in the form of the Alternative for Germany as well as its first neo-Nazi MEP from the Hitler apologists of the National Democratic party of Germany, according to German TV projections.

Merkel's party dropped several points while the Social Democrats (SPD) made significant gains, narrowing the gap between the two big parties to about eight percentage points.

The election mattered more than ever because the Strasbourg-based parliament has gained greater powers, meaning it will have a strong say in most EU legislation over the next five years and will also shape the outcome of the battle for the most powerful post in Brussels, the new head of the EU executive, the European Commission.

But its mandate to exercise those powers was dented by the low turnout of roughly 43%, raising renewed questions about the parliament's legitimacy.

Europe's Christian Democrat bloc, led by Merkel's CDU, were expected to emerge as the biggest grouping of MEPs, albeit forfeiting some 50 seats, with the Social Democrats improving their performance to come second.

The two big pro-EU blocs can easily muster a majority between them in the 751-seat chamber and may club together in the form of a Berlin-style grand coalition to prevent legislative gridlock.

But after five years of currency and debt crisis, recession, and savage austerity, the results exposed a Europe of division: extremely volatile, fragmented, with voters disenchanted and those choosing to vote cutting their support for the mainstream in favour of fringe parties.

Average turnout across the EU was put at just over 43%, the same as the last election in 2009 which was the lowest ever for a parliament that has steadily accrued greater powers.

Voters turnout in Germany Turnout in elections for the European parliament averaged out at 43.11 percent across the 28-nation European Union. Photograph: Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images

For Europe's political class, the result in France was the most shocking. Le Pen promptly described the vote as support for "France for the French", called on the government to resign and for Hollande to dissolve the French parliament.

Whether voters opted for the far right, hard left, or opposition, the anti-incumbent backlash was felt in most parts of Europe and is likely to have a profound impact on national politics everywhere as well as on the conduct of policy-making at the EU level.

Despite the low turnout, a spokesman for the European parliament described the voter participation as "historic", arguing that the trend towards lower turnout since the first direct elections in 1979 had been reversed.

The immediate impact of the election will vary. The performance of Le Pen will have unknown consequences for French politics while in Italy the expected victory of the new prime minister, Matteo Renzi, will be seen as a mandate for his proposed reforms despite the fact that his administration is unelected.

The results will bring pressure for early national elections in Greece and Bulgaria while a sweeping victory of social democrats and Greens in Sweden signals a thorough defeat for the governing conservatives in September.

As the political elite licks its wounds and considers it options, attention will promptly shift to the formation of coalitions of voting blocs in the parliament and infighting over how the top jobs in Brussels are to be distributed over the coming months.

Leading Christian Democrats predicted they would be the biggest bloc by a margin of around 20 seats and laid claim to the post of the new head of the European commission being filled by Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg. However, his rival, Martin Schulz, a German Social Democrat, was feted last night in Berlin as the moral victor of the election. Both camps will now seek to lure smaller parties and independent MEPs to their side to try to muster an absolute parliamentary majority needed to endorse a new commission chief.

National government leaders are to gather in Brussels on Tuesday evening to plot their next moves. Hollande will be the weakest figure at the summit, while David Cameron will seek to exploit the impact of the electoral earthquake to bolster his case for deep seated reform of the EU.

France's National Front wins Euro vote in France Posters announce France's Front National as the leading political party in the country are hung at their party's HQ. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/REUTERS

Despite the National Front triumph, it remains to be seen whether Le Pen will be able to cobble together enough parties from enough countries to form a voting bloc in the new parliament. That requires a minimum of 25 MEPs from at least seven countries. While she will easily muster the MEP numbers, potential allies in Belgium and Slovakia may not get into the parliament, making it more difficult to get seven countries. Le Pen's biggest ally, Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party in The Netherlands, did less well than expected.

It also remained to be seen whether Cameron would be able to maintain his breakaway faction of European Conservatives and Reformists. His Polish allies were projected to take 19 seats, suggesting they would supplant the Tories as the biggest national contingent in the bloc.

In Greece victory for Syriza would appear to reflect popular frustration with the harsh spending cuts the government has adopted in recent years to meet the terms of its economic rescue programme.

Alexisd Tsipras Leader of Greek leftist main opposition Syriza party Alexis Tsipras, after leading his party to victory. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

The surge in support for the far left raises doubts about how much longer the centre-right government can last with a parliamentary majority of just two seats, although government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said there was no question that the government would not finish its four-year term.

"It's easy for people to cast a protest vote in European elections," he told Greek television. "The political scenario of a government collapse, which Syriza was trying to paint, has not been borne out by the facts."

In a first for Greece, neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn looks set to elect at least two out of Greece's 21 MEPs.

The party ranks third with up to 10% of the vote, despite an ongoing criminal investigation and the fact that several of its leading members are in pre-trial detention.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/25/france-national-front-win-european-elections

 

WHO WILL HELP THE ABUSED, THE REJECTED, THE OPPRESSED?

 
Not the "ordinary" people:
 
They are too busy;
They don't want to make waves;
They don't want to get involved.
 
They have their own troubles.
 
They just follow the rules.
 
No, if you want someone to help you,
Look to the "oddballs"
Look to the eccentrics.
 
Look to those who suffer ridicule,
Victims of contempt;
 
Look to those who don't just follow orders,
The ones who dare to think;
The ones who care.
And dare to demand justice,
Just because it is right to do so.
 
Look to those who suffer the slings and arrows
Of the self-centred majority.
 
They feel your pain as their own.
 
They too hunger for justice,
 
But these rare beings
 
Are willing to act.
 
They are the hope of the world.
 
 
 

WOMEN TREATED LIKE WORMS IN PAKISTAN - VICTIM'S HUSBAND STRANGLED FIRST WIFE

 
 
Mohammad Iqbal, right, husband of Farzana Parveen sits in an ambulance next to the body of his pregnant wife who was stoned to death by her own family, in Lahore, Pakistan.(AP Photo)
 

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday demanded "immediate action" over the murder of a pregnant woman who was bludgeoned to death outside a courthouse, as her husband revealed in a grisly twist that he strangled his first wife.

Farzana Parveen was murdered on Tuesday outside the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore by more than two dozen brick-wielding attackers, including her brother and father, for marrying against her family's wishes — while police stood by.
   
The brazen, brutal nature of the killing, in broad daylight in the centre of Pakistan's second largest city, has triggered outrage around the world.
   
The attack also casts a spotlight on the country's controversial blood-money laws which allow relatives of homicide victims to forgive their perpetrators — who in cases such as this are often also family members.
   
In a startling twist, Parveen's husband Mohammad Iqbal, 45, admitted to AFP on Thursday that he had killed his first wife — and was spared prison because he was forgiven for the act by his son.
   
"I was in love with Farzana and killed my first wife because of this love," Iqbal said, adding that he had strangled her.
   
After admitting to the murder he switched off his phone and did not respond to further calls.
   
Zulfiqar Hameed, a senior police officer investigating the killing of Parveen, said police would be filing a report to the government detailing Iqbal's past.
   
"Iqbal was a notorious character and he had murdered his first wife six years ago," Hameed said.
   
"He was arrested and later released after a compromise with his family."
   
Hundreds of women are murdered by relatives in Pakistan each year supposedly to defend family "honour", but the fact that police officers guarding the court apparently did nothing to intervene to save 25-year-old Parveen has added to the outrage over the killing.
   
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has told the Punjab chief minister, his brother Shahbaz Sharif, to act over the "brutal killing of lady in the premises of high court in the presence of police", a statement from his office said.
   
"I am directing the Chief Minister to take immediate action and report must be submitted by this evening to my office," Sharif said in the statement.
   
"This crime is totally unacceptable and must be dealt with in accordance with law promptly."
   
Parveen, who was three months pregnant, had gone to court to testify in Iqbal's defence after he was accused by her relatives of kidnapping her and forcing her into marriage.
   
Iqbal, a farmer, told AFP he had been receiving death threats from his in-laws, and said he did not believe police were actively pursuing his wife's killers.
   
"I am already upset and worried but now they are threatening to kill me as well," he said.
   
He said Parveen's family had initially agreed to their marriage but later changed their mind after he did not pay them a big enough dowry.
   
And he shed further light on Parveen's horrifying last moments.
   
"Five to six people were hitting her in the head, she was shouting for help, she was screaming but they killed my helpless wife," he said. "We were in love."

The incident gained prompt attention from the global media and international human right activists reacted to it.
   
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay strongly condemned the killing on Wednesday and urged Pakistan to take "urgent and strong measures" to put an end to so-called honour killings.
   
British Foreign Secretary William described the murder as "barbaric" and urged the Pakistani government to fully investigate it.
   
"I am shocked and appalled by the death of Farzana Parveen: both for the appalling manner of her death, and the unspeakable cruelty and injustice of murdering a woman for exercising her basic right to choose who to love and marry," Hague said in a statement.
   
"There is absolutely no honour in honour killings and I urge the government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate this barbaric practice.
   
Last year 869 women died in so-called "honour killings" according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
   
Conviction rates are very low due to Pakistan's blood-money laws which allow kin to forgive perpetrators, usually family members in such cases.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/husband-of-pakistani-woman-stoned-to-death-strangled-first-wife/article1-1224244.aspx

 

SAUDI PRINCESSES HELD PRISONER, BEATEN - BY THEIR FATHER - OUR ALLY

 
'We are hostages': Saudi princesses who say they are kept locked in palace as punishment for advocating women's rights make another plea for help.

One of the Saudi princesses who claims she and her sisters are being held captive by their father has managed to make contact with the outside world.

Sahar, the eldest daughter of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, said the women were being starved and beaten on the orders of her father.

The 42-year-old princess, who had lived a life of luxury before the past 13 years of captivity, made her claims during a clandestine phone call to the New York Post.
 
Fall from grace: The King's ex-wife Al Fayez with their four children who, as adults, say they are being held hostage 

Fall from grace: The King's ex-wife Al Fayez with their four children who, as adults, say they are being held hostage.
 
 
Outspoken: The princesses claim their father, King Abdullah, did not approve of them supporting women's rights 
 
Outspoken: The princesses claim their father, King Abdullah, did not approve of them supporting women's rights.

'We are cut off and isolated and alone. We are hostages,' she said.
'No one can come see us, and we can't go see anyone. Our father is responsible and his sons, our half-brothers, are both culprits in this tragedy.'

She said that the King was punishing her and her three sisters, Jawaher, Hala, and Maha, because they spoke out about the injustices and inequality faced by women in Saudi Arabia. 'That was it for him. It was the end for us,' Sahar said.

Saudi Arabia has one of the most oppressive human rights records for gender inequality. Women must be covered from head to toe, are banned from driving and have every move shadowed by a male guardian - usually a husband, brother or father.

The girls' mother, who fled into self-imposed exile in London to escape what she said was an abusive relationship, backed up her daughters' claims and said she feared for their safety.
 
Prisoners: Princesses Sahar and Jawaher said they are, in effect, being held under house arrest in the royal compound in Jeddah 
 
Prisoners: Princesses Sahar and Jawaher said they are, in effect, being held under house arrest in the royal compound in Jeddah

'They once had a normal life for Saudi Arabia, but they are free thinkers, and their father hates that,' Alanoud Al Fayez told the New York Post.

'They are compassionate about the plight of women in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Arab world. The injustices that we see are terrible, and someone must say something.'

Her daughters claim that they are beaten, denied food and water for days at a time, and have been confined to a dark and isolated part of the royal estate.

Power supplies and running water are shut off for days or weeks at a time and the women have been separated from one another, with Sahar and Jawher in one room and Hala and Maha in another.

'Our energy is quite low, and we're trying our best to survive,' Sahar said, adding that the rooms they are kept in are sweltering hot and overrun with bugs.

She added that men, including their half-brothers have beaten them with sticks.
 
 
Speaking out: Sahar is the eldest daughter and has somehow remained able to convey to the world the depraved state of human rights, especially against women, in Saudi Arabia 
 
Speaking out: Sahar is the eldest daughter and has somehow remained able to convey to the world the depraved state of human rights, especially against women, in Saudi Arabia
 
 
Campaign: The women's mother wanted Obama to raise her daughters' plight during his visit to the King, above 
 
Campaign: The women's mother wanted Obama to raise her daughters' plight during his visit to the King, above

An official at the Saudi embassy in London denied the sisters' claims and said they were free to go where they liked but, because they are royalty, they needed to be accompanied by armed guards.

Their mother however, rejected the official's claims and alleged that her former husband wanted the sisters to die.

'That place was once a home. Now it's a cage,' she told the Post.

'The king wants them dead and he wants them to die in front of the world, yet he will deny any of this ever happened.'

Al Fayez has campaigned about her daughers' plight to President Obama and the UN. 
 
 
The 57-year-old called on Obama to help before he visited the King during an official visit.

'Mr Obama should take this opportunity to address these grave violations committed against my daughters,' she said.

'Since 13 years, my daughters Sahar, Maha, Hala and Jawaher are being held captive. 'They need to be saved and released immediately.'

Al Fayez has written to the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to say that her daughters are 'imprisoned, held against their will, cut off from the world'.
 
 
Separated: Al Fayez fled to London and her daughters are being kept isolated from each other in the palace 
 
Separated: Al Fayez fled to London and her daughters are being kept isolated from each other in the palace

Obama paid a visit to Saudi King Abdullah's desert oasis at the end of March.

Abdullah became king of Saudi Arabia in 2005. The oil-rich state is a key ally of the U.S. in the Middle East and its extensive royal family enjoy massive wealth, with the king one of the world's richest men.

Al Fayez was only 15 when she married King Abdullah, who was then in his 40s, but he divorced her just over a decade later.

The king, who has 38 children by a number of wives, has placed his four daughters with Alfayez under the control of three of their half-brothers, according to Sahar.

'We are hostages': Saudi princesses who say they are kept locked in palace as punishment for advocating women's rights.