Middle East

The campaign against a war between Israel and Iran has moved from the social networks to the streets. About a thousand Israelis participated in a peaceful march. Tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv have been increasing due to disagreements over Iran’s nuclear programme and Israeli society is divided about a possible war with Tehran.

Tomas Hirsch, former presidential candidate for the Chilean Humanist Party was invited by the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to talk about the present situation in Latin America. He focussed mainly on Chile as it is best known to him but also because it is a good example of the paradigm of installation of the neoliberal model and the fall of that myth.

During our visit to Israel to disseminate Silo’s Message and Universalist Humanism, we met with Councilman Meir Margalit of Jerusalem. Meir is known for his struggle for human rights, the defence of Palestinian people, his campaigns to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes, and his confrontation with institutions to prevent abuses of power.

A massive vaccination campaign, launched by the UN, is under way in Yemen, where a new outbreak of measles has killed at least 126 children under the age of five.

In recent weeks, there has been a notable shuffle in the positions of key external players in the Syrian crisis. Momentum has quite suddenly shifted from an all-out onslaught against the Assad government to a quiet investigation of exit strategies. The clashes between government forces and opposition militias in Baba Amr were a clear tipping point for these players…

Should academia deal with Spirituality? What is spirituality anyway? Is it different from religion? Is secularism the same as atheism? Is secularism growing? Is atheist humanism in need of spirituality? These and other questions were discussed at Haifa University. Members of Silo’s Message participated with its point of view about a new spirituality arising in the world.

Following several days of mounting tensions after Israel discusses openly the possibility of bombing Iran’s nuclear installations, an Israeli couple starts a Facebook page called “Israelis love Iranians” stating in posters: we will never bomb your country. Soon responses from Iranians began to arrive saying “We love you too”.

During a visit to Israel by friends from Europe and Latin America to disseminat Silo’ Message and Universalist Humanism, we had the opportunity to attend the Fourth International Conference for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality (ICSCS) at the University of Haifa. We were invited by the director of the Education Department Prof. Ofra Mayseless.

An album by international artists to benefit the
Global March to Jerusalem – North America.

The recent Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa have inspired popular
movements worldwide to take to the streets to peacefully protest against contemporary injustices. Many artists in these movements are also using music as a way to non-violently resist.

Imagine this scenario: A developing nation decides to selectively share its precious natural resource, selling only to “friendly” countries and not “hostile” ones. Now imagine this is oil we’re talking about and the nation in question is the Islamic Republic of Iran… [the original article was published February 17, on Al Akhbar]