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Egyptian soccer player punished for "Sympathize With Gaza" shirt, double standards?Mohamed Ismail, IkhwanWeb - Egypt  Egyptian soccer star Aboutrika showing support for Gaza The tragic events in Gaza Strip echoed in the soccer fields in Ghana, which hosts the 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament, when Egyptian player Mohamed Aboutrika wore a tee shirt reading "sympathize with Gaza" in arabic and English. Aboutrika flashed the shirt after he scored his first goal in veiw of cameras and millions of spectators throughout the world which prompted the referee to slap him with yellow warning card for violating the FIFA rules which prohibit religious and political slogans during the games, although this phrase is more humanitarian than political.  Meanwhile, Aboutrika’s action drew huge public support which sympathized with the player. Arabic websites were flooded with messages of support and condemnation of the referee’s decision to punish Aboutrika.  Ghanian soccer player John Paintsil The public was legitimately asking why Aboutrika was accused of politicizing the soccer game by simply wearing a shirt carrying a humanitarian message while Ghanian soccer player John Paintsil was not punished when he waved an Israeli flag to celebrate a goal his teammates scored against Czech Republic in the 2006 World Cup, although Israel had nothing to do with the game and did not even qualify for the tournament.  For his part, Hadi Khashaba, a former player and currently a football coordinator at Al Ahly Sports Club, confirmed to Ikhwanweb that what Aboutrika did is a mere humanitarian action which has no relation with politics. He said that the player tried through this symbolic action to express his feelings for the besieged Palestinians in Gaza . He also wanted to send another message, that soccer players especially Egyptians are connected to the issues taking place around them. Khashaba also confirmed that what Aboutrika did is a minimum of what any member of the Egyptian soccer team can offer to the Palestinian cause and to support the people of Gaza and contribute to ending the tight blockade imposed by Israeli Occupation Forces. Shawqi Gharib, the assistant coach of the Egyptian soccer team said that the organizing committee informed all teams that they shouldn"t wear any shirts bearing any political slogans. Saturday"s match ended with an Egyptian win over Sudans 3-0 to give the Egyptian team a lead in its group and to inch closer to qualifying for the second round of the finals of the African Cup of Nations. Source: http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=15684&LevelID=2&SectionID=0   Also Of InterestPage URL: http://www.inminds.co.uk/article.php?id=10277
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 [all videos (over 200)..] Featured MP3 Podcast  "1763 in the Ohio river valley you got Lord Jeffrey Amherst committing to written order an instruction to his subordinate Henry Bouquet, having been defeated by Pontiac Ottawa confederacy in the field. The order essentially says that they have been defeated militarily and is therefore necessary for Amherst forces to request a peace, to sue for peace from Pontiacs people. He instructs Bouquet to convene a parlay with the Indian leadership for that purpose. And as is the custom, as is common courtesy among native populations as was known to the Brits at that time, it would be necessary for those who requested the council to give gifts to those requested to attend. Make those gifts, Amherst says, items taken from a smallpox infirmary in order, I'm going to quote directly now, this isn't a paraphrase: 'in order that we may extirpate this execrable race'. Now key is on this last word, had he said that we might eradicate the opposing combatants, their military capacity, their warriors.. what ever term he wanted to use, it would have been biological warefare. But he didn't say anything about that, he said the 'race'. His intent was to use biological means, to use disease, quite explicitly so, to eradicate an entire population group. And Bouquet was also kind enough to commit to writing in his response the next day, I have done as instructed, dispersing three blankets, two handkerchiefs and sundry other items, hopefully, he says, they will have the desired result. They did.. the lowest estimate of the number of people who died of smallpox as a result of that little gesture of friendship and goodwill is a 100,000!" American Indian scholar, activist in the struggle for liberation of Indigenous Peoples in America On the publication of the book 'A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present', 1997 [29min / 10Mb] [need flash]
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