Published in New York City by EMG (Ellopia Media Group September 2014 - Issue 87
BEHIND THE NEWS - NEW YORK CITY - www.ellopiatv.com
WARS IN THE NAME OF “ALLAH”
-Gaza: Victom of History -9/11 Memorial -Inaction over Syria -Πρωτοβουλία Μνήμης Ισαάκ Σολωμού --Εσβησε η ελληνική φωνή -Russia -Nato -What are you doing this fall? -
F
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MONTHLY MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY ELLOPIA MEDIA GROUP Ltd.
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by Athina Krikeli
James Foley
Via Emai 15.000 copies Free of charge Publisher Editor in Chief USA Athina Krikeli Creative Art Director Hellas Costas Krikelis Advertising Director Lia Delkotzaki Senior Editor (English) Titos Christodoulou, (England) Music Editors Nikos Tatasopouls Tassos Papaioannou Petros Hatjopoulos Photo Director Fotis Papadakis Business Consultant Maria Papapetros Fashion Consultant Nikos Eftaxias Contributors S. Papathemelis (Greece), Arkas (Greece) G. Kalaras, (Chicago) Titos Christodoulou, (England) Writers G. Skabardonis (Greece) Costas Krikelis (Greece) Greg Michaelides (USA) Anita Diamantopoulou (USA) Kostas Mpliatkas (Hellas) Publishing coordinator HELLAS
What is more tragic; The beheading of a man or the apathy that characterizes us when we watch it on TV! The line between reality and fiction is so faint, it brings tears to my eyes. What is happening in the name of God? What is happening in the name of Huminity? Rest in peace James...
Lia Delkotzaki Gianni Sotiriou All opinions expressed in the articles are their authors’ own. Ellopia Media Group Ltd. USA KAUFMAN ASTORIA STUDIOS 34-12 36th str NY 11106 Tel: (718) 720 4522 ellopia@aol.com www.ellopiatv.com Facebook: ellopia You Tube/ellopia
the world
Gaza,
Victom of History By JEAN-PIERRE FILIUAUG. 26, 2014
PARIS — The current conflict in Gaza is the third since 2008. If nothing is done to address the root causes, any cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas will only be a pause before the next outbreak of violence. The collective impotence of the world’s leaders is striking, since the Gaza Strip is, within the broader IsraeliPalestinian conflict, a far less complex issue to handle than East Jerusalem and the West Bank..”
All parties have endorsed the Gaza Strip’s borders, which were drawn in 1949 at the end of the first Arab-Israeli war. The last Israeli settler left Gaza in 2005, after Ariel Sharon opted for a unilateral withdrawal, similar to Ehud Barak’s disengagement from southern Lebanon in 2000. There is no religious site in the Gaza Strip to be contested by Muslims, Jews and Christians. Many Israelis dream of waking one morning to discover that Gaza has gone away (or been annexed by Egypt, a softer version of such a fantasy). But Gaza is there to stay, with its 1.8 million people crowded into 141 square miles (365 square kilometers). How did this tiny slice of the Mediterranean coastline be-
come one of the most wretched spots on earth? Over the centuries, travelers have remarked on the fecundity of Gaza’s vegetation. The Gaza Valley, which runs down into the Mediterranean coast, south of the modern city, is a refuge for migrant birds and small animals. Gaza was once the leading exporter of barley in the region; more recently, it has been a producer of citrus. Perched between the Levant and the Sinai and Negev deserts, Gaza has had the misfortune of being at the crossroads of empires. Gaza City, slightly inland and adjacent to a natural harbor, has been inhabited for at least 3,500 years. The first historical reference to the loose subsoil of Gaza — which has made possible
the world Under the 1947 partition plan of the United Nations, Gaza was supposed to be part of a new Arab state, alongside the new Jewish state. But when the state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, the Egyptian Army entered Gaza and the territory became a magnet for Palestinians fleeing from all over. funded by the United Nations, tended to the first waves of refugees.
Gaza,
Victom of History the network of Hamas tunnels targeted by Israel in the latest conflict — dates to Alexander the Great, whose forces besieged the Arab garrison for three months and eventually sacked the city, filling six ships with booty. Some 1,500 years later — following the emergence of Islam and sporadic rule by crusaders — Gaza was the westernmost point of the Mongol advance. Centuries later, it was seized (briefly) by Napoleon. In 1906, the British government, which controlled Egypt, agreed with the Ottoman Empire on the boundary between the Egyptian Sinai and the Ottoman province of Palestine, with Rafah becoming the coastal border town that it is today. In Gaza, the earliest JewishMuslim conflict dates to the period of the British mandate, which began in 1922. The indigenous Jewish inhabitants — some 54 individuals, as of 1922 — left the city (although they had been protected by their Arab neighbors) after anti-Zionist riots broke out in Jerusalem, Hebron and elsewhere in 1929. By 1945, 4 percent of the land in the Gaza region was
owned by European Zionist settlers, who made up 2 percent of the population. Under the 1947 partition plan of the United Nations, Gaza was supposed to be part of a new Arab state, alongside the new Jewish state. But when the state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, the Egyptian Army entered Gaza and the territory became a magnet for Palestinians fleeing from all over. Israel bombed Gaza by land, sea and air, even though its firepower was far more restrained than what we witness nowadays. American Quakers, funded by the United Nations, tended to the first waves of refugees. Measles and cold took dozens of lives. Gaza became, as one refugee told me, the “Noah’s Ark” of a lost Palestine. One in four Arabs from the former British mandate took refuge on 1 percent of its land area. Seen another way, 200,000 refugees were packed into a territory inhabited by 80,000 Palestinians. (The proportion is about the same today: 1.2 million refugees out of a population of 1.8 million.) But for the Sinai, those waves of refugees
could have settled in refugee camps around Cairo the way they did around Beirut, Damascus and Amman. The Egyptians administered this territory, but refused to annex it, contrary to what Jordan did in the West Bank. So in 1949, David Ben Gurion proposed to annex the Gaza Strip and to resettle its Palestinian refugees throughout Israel. This offer was rebuffed both by the United Nations and by the Arab states, which would not accept Israeli territorial expansion. An Egyptianrun Gaza inexorably became a hotbed of Palestinian nationalism. It was sometimes directed against Egypt’s ruler, Gamal Abdel Nasser, as during an uprising in 1955. Or it could be manipulated by Egyptian intelligence, which trained the first Palestinian Fedayeen — freedom fighters or terrorists, depending on your point of view — for missions in Israel. The young state of Israel became obsessed with the menace from Gaza. This was one of the main motivations for the offensive against Nasser’s Egypt, begun in October 1956 with French and British support.
the world
Gaza,
Victom of History
Gaza was occupied for four months, with a terrible toll on the population (more than 1,000 dead out of some 300,000 inhabitants). Under American pressure, Ben Gurion agreed to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, but he trusted Nasser to keep the territory quiet. The next 10 years were marked by very little tension, but the Fedayeen merely went underground. The Palestine Liberation Organization was established in 1964 with prominent nationalist figures from Gaza. During Israel’s Six Day War against its Arab neighbors, in June 1967, Gaza was conquered in a matter of hours and the surrendering Egyptians were soon evacuated. But local Palestinian guerrillas kept fighting this new occupation for the next four years. Then the Israeli military thought it best to let an Islamist network develop, to neutralize the nationalist camp in Gaza. This is how Sheikh Ahmed Yassin built a power base and eventually founded his movement, Hamas, to challenge the nationalist P.L.O. In December 1987, a Palestinian generation born and raised under two decades of occupation found in its frustration the energy for an unprecedented intifada, or uprising. The cradle of this uprising was the Gaza Strip, but it soon spread to the West Bank and forced Jordan’s king to relinquish any claim over the West Bank. The P.L.O. endorsed a “two-state solution” — an independent Palestine, covering East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza — in the early 1990s, as part of the process leading up to the Oslo Accords. This peace option was bitterly opposed by Hamas: Its leader, Sheikh Yassin, had been jailed by Israel, but his followers founded a military wing, the Qassam brigades. In 1994, the P.L.O. leader, Yasir Arafat, led the new Palestinian Authority into Gaza — a significant blow to Hamas, which then transferred part of its apparatus to the West Bank. Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat’s partner in the Oslo Accords, was murdered in 1995 by a Jewish extremist. Benjamin Netanyahu took over and, eager to “destroy” Hamas, dispatched agents in 1997 to Amman to
poison Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas’s exiled leadership. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story The plot was disrupted by Jordanian intelligence; Netanyahu not only had to turn over an antidote, which saved Meshal from certain death, but he was also forced to release Yassin, who was flown back to Gaza. Arafat was now overshadowed by the larger-than-life figures of Yassin (who was assassinated in 2004) and Meshal (who continues to lead Hamas, from exile in Qatar). The weakening of the Palestinian Authority led to the second intifada in 2000, with its disastrous string of suicide attacks and aerial bombings. Ariel Sharon’s campaign against Arafat’s nationalist movement, Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority, only strengthened Hamas, even after Mahmoud Abbas succeeded Arafat in 2005. Two years later, Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces invaded Gaza at the end of 2008 and bombed it in the fall of 2012; the latest campaign has been deadlier than the previous two, combined. There is a way to break this vicious cycle. Israelis want the Gaza Strip demilitarized, and the Palestinians want a lifting of the blockade of Gaza. From an Israeli perspective, lifting the economic siege is essential for demilitarization, since the blockade generates a demand for commodities that can only be met through smuggling, via the tunnels. And those tunnels can only be financed with hard currency, obtained through the exchange of weapons and explosives. So the most efficient way to “destroy” the tunnels is not by sending Israeli tanks into Gaza, but by lifting the blockade, reviving the local economy and offering, at last, other opportunities than militant Islam to young Palestinians (more than half of the Gazan population is unemployed). Gaza has to be able to rebuild, to sell the prod-
the world
Gaza,
Victom of History ucts of its farms and workshops; its people must be allowed to move freely. It is certainly easier said than done, but there is no alternative to achieve a sustained peace in Gaza. And yet, both Israel and Hamas still harbor elusive dreams of military victory. The people of Gaza are the ones who suffer from these delusions. Three generations have grown up: a generation of mourning (1948-67), a generation of submission (1967-87) and a generation of the intifadas (1987 to the present). To turn back the clock, it will be necessary to return to a concept from the Oslo Accords: “Gaza first.” If there is ever to be Israeli-Palestinian peace — with all other options having been exhausted — Gaza will be the foundation, and the keystone. Jean-Pierre Filiu is professor of Middle
East studies at Sciences Po, a former career diplomat for France, and the author of the forthcoming book “Gaza: A History.” That is the question raised in a new exposé by Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Seymour Hersh on the intelligence debate over the deaths of hundreds of Syrians in Ghouta last year. The United States, and much of the international community, blamed forces loyal to the Assad government, almost leading to a U.S. attack on Syria. But Hersh reveals the U.S. intelligence community feared Turkey was supplying sarin gas to Syrian rebels in the months before the attack took place — information never made public as President Obama made the case for launching a strike. Hersh joins us to discuss his findings.
New York city
Tribute in Light
is one of the most powerful and healing works of public art ever produced. The majestic blue twin beams are presented annually by MAS, shining from dusk on September 11, through dawn the next day. Visible within a sixtymile radius on a clear night, Tribute has become a worldrenowned icon of remembrance, honoring those who were lost, as well as those who worked so hard to get our city through that terrible trial.
Tribute in Light was first presented on March 11, 2002, six months after the attacks, and MAS has presented it annually since. Comprising eighty-eight 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares that echo the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers, Tribute in Light is assembled each year on a roof near the World Trade Center site. The illuminated memorial reaches 4 miles into the sky and is the strongest shaft of light ever projected from earth into the night sky. See this list of great Viewing Locations. It was independently conceived by several artists and designers who were brought together under the auspices of MAS and Creative Time. Tribute was designed by John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian Laverdiere and Paul Myoda with lighting consultant Paul Marantz. It was originally made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and with the generous assistance of Con Edison.
the world
Did inaction over Syria foment regional chaos? By Jonathan Marcus BBC defence correspondent One year on from the deadly chemical weapons attack in Damascus that was widely blamed on the Syrian regime, the United States has used air power to try to change the regional balance of forces on the ground. But the US air strikes have come in Iraq, rather than Syria. The US has been attacking fighters of Islamic State, an organisation that has only grown in strength due to the chaos in Syria. One year on the Middle East is in a bigger mess than it was 12 months ago. There is fighting in Libya; the torment of the IsraeliPalestinian struggle is in its latest phase of blood-letting; not to mention the linked tragedies in Syria and Iraq. So much for the aborted hopes of what some called "the Arab Spring"; the brief flowering of the vision of a better, more democratic Middle East. The most important Arab actor, Egypt, which was in the vanguard of this process, has thrown reform into reverse. The controversial rule of the Muslim Brotherhood was overturned in what was for all intents and purposes a military coup. Egyptian politics has turned full circle, ending up pretty much where it began.
Inevitably this raises many questions. How far are the forces at work endemic in the region? Could more be done - could anything be done - from outside to limit the chaos? And to what extent can coalitions of regional players - perhaps with support from outside help to alleviate the multiple crises which have precipitated probably the worst regional chaos in living memory? Assad stands firm Of course a year ago, events in Syria were still seen to a large extent through the prism of the Arab Spring. If elsewhere, long-standing rulers and regimes had collapsed in the face of popular pressure, President Bashar al-Assad was determined to stand firm. The divisions among Syria’s opposition played to President Assad’s strengths. The crisis was taking on more of a regional dimension with Sunni states, like Saudi Arabia, backing various elements of the opposition, while the Iranians strongly backed the Assad regime. The West flirted with opposition groups but their disunity and the lack of Western resolve meant that there was no concerted effort to arm or equip them.
the world
Did inaction over Syria foment regional chaos? Then came President Assad’s apparent use of chemical weapons against his own people. There had of course been many earlier examples of such attacks. But the evidence of the chemical attack on the Damascus suburbs was clearer and sent out a clarion call for action. On 31 August last year, in the White House Rose Garden President Barack Obama determined that the US should “take military action against Syrian regime targets.” The use of chemical weapons broke a longstanding international taboo. President Assad was deemed to have gone a step too far. But air strikes never came. Obama’s red line Maybe President Obama was not wholeheartedly behind the idea of striking Syria, even though it had crossed his own self-declared “red line”. Perhaps on balance there was a better diplomatic outcome. But the vote of the British Parliament against joining any US air strikes greatly damaged the president’s case as he sought congressional approval for military action. Russia emerged with a diplomatic life-line of sorts; Washington and Moscow elaborated a plan, ultimately backed by the international community as a whole, which would ultimately see Syria’s chemical weapons stocks removed and its chemical weapons production facilities destroyed. It was a memorable chapter in the history of arms con-
trol, powerfully reinforcing the stigma of chemical weapons use. But in the tortuous story of contemporary Syria it was, to a large extent, a foot-note. The bloody violence continued. The regime retained its grip on a significant part of the country. And groups dubbed by the West as “the moderate opposition” have found themselves beset by an additional and deadly foe. Jihadists benefit Islamist extremists linked to an off-shoot of al-Qaeda had long been a source of concern in Western capitals. Their ability to co-opt more moderate Islamists and to confront fighters backed by the West and its Gulf allies was one of the reasons cited for the reluctance to supply Western weaponry to opposition fighters. Where might such weaponry end up? But the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile was in a sense a distraction. It did little to alter the horror of the Syrian fighting. And President Obama’s critics - some of whom argued for the use of air power not just in a punitive sense but to unseat the Syrian regime - believed that the White House had missed an opportunity to change the military balance in Syria once and for all. In the absence of air strikes, they argue, it is the most extreme elements of the opposition - the jihadists - who have prospered. These groups have metamorphosed into the self-declared Islamic State that now controls a swathe of territory in both Syria and Iraq.
CYPRUS
ΠΩΣ ΤΟΛΜΑΤΕ ΩΡΕ ΜΗΧΑΝΟΒΙΟΙ!!! γράφει η Αθηνάς Κρικέλη
Πώς τολμάτε στην εποχή της εθνικής μας εξαθλίωσης, να μας δίνετε μαθήματα λεβεντιάς, ντομπροσύνης, πατριωτισμού και ελπίδας? Πώς τολμάτε να σηκώνετε το ανάστημά σας σε πουλημένους ηγέτες που κατασπαράζουν την σάρκα Ελλάδας και Κύπρου? Πώς τολμάτε να αυξάνεστε μέρα με την ημέρα?
CYPRUS
Πώς τολμάτε να μας κάνετε να νοιώθουμε την μπορεί να εμποδίσει όποιον θέλει να αποτίσει φόρο περηφάνια και την αγάπη για τον ελληνισμό να είναι τιμής. ¨Ηρθαν σεμνά τυπικά και χωρίς να δημιουργήσει έτοιμα να εκραγούν μέσα από το είναι μας? ΚΑΝΕΝΑ πρόβλημα στην πορεία, περίμενε, μόλις αποχωρίσει η ομάδα των Μοτοσυκλετιστών να πάει με Γυρίσαμε πριν λίγο στην Λευκωσία. Η Πορεία την σειρά της στο Οδόφραγμα. Και σε τελική ανάλυση, Μνήμης Ισαάκ και Σολωμού με διοργανωτές την βρέθηκε όπως και άλλες ομάδες να λιώνουν στο λιοπύρι Πρωτοβουλία Μνήμης Κύπρου, έκλεισε τις μηχανές από τις 7 το πρωί για να τιμήσουν την πατρίδα τους. της. Η συγκέντρωση έγινε το πρωί στο “Οκτάγωνο”. Αλλοι απλά κάθονται μπροστά στο τάμπλετ τους και Μην πάει ο νούς σας σε κανένα πολιτικό συγκρότημα. κάνουν κριτική στο ΦΒ. Είναι απλά περιοχή της Λευκωσίας που πήρε το όνομα της από περίπτερο με τις οκτώ γωνιές. Αφού συμπληρώθηκε η πορεία με τους μοτοσυκλετιστές Οι μηχανές φτάνουν από παντού. Οι οδηγοί της Λεμεσού και της Λάρνακας έφτασε στο κοιμητήριο τους κάθε ηλικίας, όλοι όμως ακολουθουν πιστά τις του Παραλιμνίου. Εκατοντάδες κόσμου όλοι μαζί αλλά οδηγίες των διοργανωτών. Κράνη και φανέλες της και μόνοι τους χαμένοι στις σκέψεις τους άναβαν Πρωτοβουλίας μόνο. εσώψυχα το δικό τους κεράκι στα δύο παλληκάρια που Οχι κόμματα όχι καπελώματα. Αυτά προς αποφυγή δολοφονήθηκαν ατιμώρητα από τους τούρκους. παρεξηγήσεων και διαφόρων “γνωστών άγνωστων” Εκεί λοιπόν και ενώ συγγενείς και μαυροφορεμένες που ίσως θελήσουν να ταρακουνήσουν την Πορεία κυρίες ανάβαν το θυμιάμα στα παιδιά τους, κάποιοι που κάθε χρόνο αυξάνεται και δυναμώνει. (Φυσικά γκρινιάζαν ασυστώλως: “μα είναι δυνατόν να έχουν και βρίσκονται οι γνωστοί ανεγκέφαλοι που για να κλείσει τον δρόμο οι χίλιες και πλέον μηχανές και δεν καλύψουν την δική τους ηλιθιώδη απάθεια κοτσάρουν μπορούν να φτάσουν μέχρι την είσοδο του κοιμητηρίου ταμπελίτσες όπως: “ πορεία φασιστών” “Χρυσαυγιτών οι πολιτικοί εκπρόσωποι? Έλεγαν. (αν υπήρχε τρόπος θα EΛΑΜ ” κλπ. έφταναν μέχρι το μνήμα με το αμάξι και το κλιματιστικό Το ότι επέλεξε το ΕΛΑΜ να πάει στο Οδόφραγμα όπως στο φουλ)... και άλλες οργανώσεις είναι απόλυτα δημοκρατικό. Η Πορεία της Πρωτοβουλίας φτάνει στο οδόφραγμα Ούτε η Πρωτοπορειά, ούτε η αστυνομία ούτε κανείς της Δερύνειας! Τα βλέμματα σκληραίνουν τα γυαλιά
Cyprus Η «Πρωτοβουλία Μνήμης Ισαάκ-Σολωμού» έχει συσταθεί από μια ανεξάρτητη ομάδα νέων ανθρώπων από το 2008, έχοντας ως βασικό στόχο τη διατήρηση της μνήμης της θυσίας των Ισαάκ – Σολωμού και την ανάδειξη στην κοινωνία μας των μηνυμάτων που πηγάζουν μέσα από τη θυσία δύο συνανθρώπων μας. Επιπλέον, στοχεύει στη συνέχιση του θεσμού της πορείας των μοτοσικλετιστων ως συμβολικού μέσου διεκδίκησης του δικαιώματός μας στη ζωή και στο σεβασμό της ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων και ελευθεριών, τα οποία στερούμαστε στην Κύπρο λόγω της τουρκικής εισβολής και κατοχής της πατρώας γης. Αποκορύφωμα των πορειών των μοτοσικλετιστων αποτέλεσε η αντικατοχική πορεία που διοργανώθηκε το 1996. Κύπριοι και ξένοι μοτοσικλετιστές ξεκίνησαν από το Βερολίνο με στόχο να τερματίσουν στην Κερύνεια. Με την απαγόρευση από τις κατοχικές αρχές της ελεύθερης πρόσβασης προς την κατεχόμενη Κερύνεια, οι μοτοσυκλετιστές διαδήλωσαν σε διάφορα σημεία όπως στο Σοπάζ και στη Δερύνεια. Ο τουρκικός στρατός έδειξε για μια ακόμη φορά το σκληρό και απάνθρωπο πρόσωπό του, δολοφονώντας άνανδρα τον Τάσο Ισαάκ και Σολωμό Σολωμού. Μετά τις δολοφονίες των Ισαάκ και Σολωμού το κίνημα των μοτοσικλετιστών εξασθένησε αλλά δεν εξαφανίστηκε. τοποθετούνται σφιχτά στα μάτια για να μη φαίνεται το βούρκωμα. Ο θυμός θρονιάζεται σε κάθε ίνα του κορμιού. Τα σώματα σκληραίνουν. Μνημόσυνο στα δύο παλληκάρια σιωπηλό με τον Εθνικό Υμνο να ψάλλεται με όση δύναμη από τον καθένα για να φτάσει απέναντι στους τούρκους μαζί με την υπόσχεση.... Μνημόσυνο για τους νεκρούς που θυσιάστηκαν μπάς και ξυπνήσουμε εμείς οι χορτασμένοι. Μνημόσυνο από μια διοργάνωση που κρατά με νύχια και με δόντια μακριά τις πολιτικές παρατάξεις και τα λοιπά καραγκιοζιλίκια, όπως ο διάολος το λιβάνι, προσπαθώντας απλά να “αγγίξουν” τους ώμους των συμπατριωτών τους. Με συμπάθια κατανόηση και λεβεντιά. Να τους βγάλουν από τα τάρταρα που επέβαλαν οι ίδιοι στον εαυτό τους Να τους κάνουν να ελπίζουν ξανά πως πέρα από την βρωμισμένη πολιτική που σαπίζει κάθε τι που βρίσκει στο διάβα της, υπάρχει καρδιά αληθινή ελληνική παλληκαρίσια που χτυπά ακόμα στην κατεχόμενη χώρα.
“Ο αγώνας είναι κοινός μόνο όταν ξεκινά από το σπίτι του καθενός μας. Μια γροθιά ο καθένας που σπάζει σίδερα όταν ενωθεί με του γείτονα. Ανεξαρτήτου μυϊκής δύναμης. Ο δρόμος είναι δύσκολος όχι γιατί υπάρχει δυστυχία αλλά για το αντίθετο. Μας χάρισαν ένα χρυσό υπερχρεωμένο κλουβί και ζουμε μέσα βασιλιάδες θαρούμε οι δόλιοι! Ανίκανα ανθρωπάκια ανάξια προσοχής είμαστε για αυτούς όσο μας μετρούν έναν έναν. Ο ένας δεν είναι κανένας είναι χιλιάδες! Να το θυμάστε αυτό.”
Περισσότερες από 1000 “μοτόρες” φέτος συμμετείχαν και οι διερχόμενοι οδηγοι στον αυτοκινητόδρομο πέρα από μερικές εξαιρέσεις, ίσως ήταν και ολίγο ενοχλημένοι με όλη αυτή την αναστάτωση που τους έβγαλε από την ανάλαφρη διάθεση των διακοπών. Ασε που η πορεία τους καθυστέρησε ίσως από τα μπάνια τους. Τι κρίμα! Οι μηχανές σβήσαν και πριν προλάβουν να κρυώσουν, τα παιδιά σχεδιάζουν ήδη για του χρόνου. Με την ευχή και την ελπίδα όχι μόνο για αριθμιτική συμμετοχή. Να βγεί το έθνος μας από την βλακώδη απάθεια που μας εχουν επιβάλλει πολιτικοί και πληρωμένα Μέσα Μαζικής επικοινωνίας. Ραντεβού του χρόνου στην Πορεία. ΥΓ. Σας ευχαριστώ όλους (και εσάς κυρίες και κύριοι που με αφήσατε να μπώ στα μπαλκόνια σας για να φωτογραφήσω)
USA -
Εσβησε η Ελληνική Φωνή του Voice of America Γράφει η Αθηνά Κρικέλη
“Ήθελα το έργο αυτό, που συνέβαλε στην σύσφιξη των σχέσεων ανάμεσα στις ΗΠΑ, την Ελλάδα και την Κύπρο, να συνεχίζονταν. Ατυχώς αυτό όμως δεν κατέστη δυνατόν να γίνει. Είναι κρίμα. 'Ολοι είναι χαμένοι από αυτή την υπόθεση. Κανείς πια δεν φαίνεται διατεθειμένος να αποδεχτεί το επιχείρημα μου που επί τόσα χρόνια κράτησε τα Ελληνικά προγράμματα στον αέρα, ότι δηλαδή είναι σημαντικό να μιλάς στους φίλους σου, καμιά φορά ακόμα και πιο σημαντικό από του να μιλάς στους ανταγωνιστές σου. Κι αυτό γιατί οι φίλοι σου πρέπει πάντα να ξέρουν τι σκέφτεσαι και τι σχεδιάζεις για να αντιλαμβάνονται καλύτερα τι κάνεις και γιατί το κάνεις, ιδιαίτερα όταν διαφωνούν μαζί σου”. Γιώργος Μπίστης Πρώην Διευθυντής της Φωνής της Αμερικής (Ελλ Υπηρεσία).
Για 72 χρόνια η Ελλάδα και ο κόσμος περίμενε στο ραδιόφωνο να ακούσει την χαρακτηριστική φωνή που θα τους έφερνε όλες τις ειδήσεις του κόσμου. Την Φωνή της Αμερικής σε εποχές που αποτελούσε ίσως και την μοναδική ευκαιρία ενημέρωσης απο τα πεπραγμένα του πλανήτη. Δημιουργήθηκε την 1η Νοεμβρίου του 1942 και κατά την διάρκεια όλων αυτών των χρόνων
η ΦτΑ κάλυψε κοσμογονικά γεγονότα που άλλαξαν την πορεία της ανθρωπότητας. Από τον Εμφύλιο πόλεμο της δεκαετίας του 1940 μέχρι την δημιουργία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ενωσης, αλλά και τις οικονομικές και άλλες προκλήσεις της Χώρας στην προσπάθεια της να παραμείνει μέλος της ΕΕ. Αποτέλεσε ένα από τα μακροβιότερα διεθνή ραδιοφωνικά
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Εσβησε η Ελληνική Φωνή του Voice of America προγράμματα της Υπηρεσίας της Φωνής της Αμερικής, έχοντας αποσπάσει δεκάδες βραβεία και διακρίσεις δημοσιογραφικής δεοντολογίας και προσφοράς στην Ελληνική κοινωνία. “Η Ελληνική υπηρεσία της Φωνής της Αμερικής αποτέλεσε ισχυρό υποστηριχτή της Αμερικανικής διεθνούς ειδησιογραφίας υπηρετώντας την ελευθερία και την δημοκρατίααναφέρει στην επιστολή του ο Διευθυντής της Υπηρεσίας Jeff Shell. Η Φωνή της Αμερικής για τον Γιώργο Μπίστη ήταν κάτι παραπάνω απο εργασία. Για 46 χρόνια υπηρέτησε την υπηρεσία με περίσσιο ζήλο, όνειρα και σχέδια που την τοποθέτησαν στα ισχυρά δίκτυα πληροφόρησης προς Ελλάδα και ελληνισμό απανταχού γενικότερα. Στις 11 Αυγούστου 2014 η επίσημη επιστολή από τα κεντρικά έλεγε τα εξής: “...Λόγω οικονομικών δυσκολιών και περικοπών του οικονομικού προυπολογισμού 2014, σταματά σήμερα η εκπομπή της Ελληνικής Υπηρεσίας της Φωνής της Αμερικής..” Αθηνά Κρικέλη “Οταν ο Διευθυντής της Ελληνικής Υπηρεσίας της Φωνής της Αμερικής κ Γιώργος Μπίστης (και κατόπιν διευθυντής και μέντορας μου) επικοινώνησε μαζί μου το 1995 να μου προτείνει την θέση της ανταποκρίτριας της ΦτΑ στην Νέα Υόρκη, νόμιζα πως μου έκαναν φάρσα. Η Φωνή της Αμερικής για μένα ήταν κάτι σαν το αμερικανικό όνειρο. Απιαστο, μεγαλειώδες, σημαντικό, σταθμό στην δημοσιογραφική πορεία μου. 18 χρόνια συνεχούς συνεργασίας με εκπληκτικούς συναδέλφους, σε έναν καθημερινό αγώνα ενημέρωσης και προώθησης προς την
Ελλάδα θεμάτων που αφορούσαν στα ελληνικά και παγκόσμια δρώμενα. 18 χρόνια μετά ο κλήρος “πέφτειστην νύν διευθύντρια της ΦτΑ Αννα Morris να κάνει την θλιβερή ενημέρωση. Πως έκλεισε ο κύκλος αυτής της εποχής. Το πρόγραμμα σίγησε και μαζί με αυτό μια ατέλειωτη δημοσιογραφική καριέρα, πορεία καλύψεων και συνδέσεων για θέματα που άλλαξαν τον κόσμο και εμάς που την υπηρετήσαμε Γιώργος Μπίστης: Αθηνά Κρικέλη εκμεταλλεύομαι την ευκαιρία για να σε ευχαριστήσω για μια ακόμα φορά για την υπέροχη συνεργασία που είχαμε επί τόσα χρόνια και τις εξαίρετες ανταποκρίσεις σου από την καρδιά της ομογένειας στην Αμερική, την Νέα Υόρκη, αλλά και τα τόσα άλλα μέρη που είχες την ευκαιρία να επισκεφτείς από την μια άκρη της γης στην άλλη, όπως Κύπρο, Αλάσκα, Αβάνα κ.ο.κ. Τα ρεπορτάζ σου για την Ελληνική Υπηρεσία της Φωνής της Αμερικής αλλά και τα τηλεοπτικά ντοκιμαντέρ σου άφησαν εποχή. Ελληνισμός σου χρωστά πολλά για το έργο σου'. O διευθυντής του VOA David Ensor αποκάλεσε την Ελληνική Υπηρεσία “μια μικρή αλλά αποτελούμενη από ταλαντουχους και διακεκριμένους δημοσιογράφους οι οποίοι για περισσότερες από επτά δεκαετίες υπηρέτησαν ώς αμερόληπτη, αντικειμενική πηγή ειδήσεων . Αννα Kαραγιαννοπούλου - Διευθύντρια Φωνής της Αμερικής ‘Αισθάνομαι ευγνώμων και τυχερή που μου δόθηκε αυτή η ευκαιρία, σχεδόν αμέσως μετά το Πανεπιστήμιο, να δουλέψω για έναν τέτοιο οργανισμό, όπως η Φωνή της Αμερικής,
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έναν οργανισμό μικρό ΟΗΕ, με ανθρώπους απόλο τον κόσμο, που τώρα μεταδίδει σε τουλάχιστον 42 γλώσσες (όταν προσελήφθην μετάδιδε σε 50!). Μέσω της δημοσιογραφικής δουλειάς μου στη Φωνή έζησα τις δραματικές αλλαγές στο χώρο μας τα τελευταία 20 χρόνια, από το κομπιούτερ γραφομηχανή και τα βραχέα, μέχρι την τηλεόραση και τα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Όταν ξεκινούσα τα Wires ερχόντουσαν ακόμη με ένα είδους τηλέτυπο, τώρα είμαστε δικτυωμένοι 24 ώρες το 24ωρο!!! Επίσης μπορώ να πω ότι τα τελευταία 2 χρόνια μου δόθηκε η ευκαιρία (λόγω θέσης) να επιφέρω αλλαγές και να ξεκινήσουμε μια νέα εποχή άμεσης επαφής με τους σταθμούς και τους ακροατές με συνεχείς τηλεοπτικές συνδέσεις κ.ο.κ. Αισθάνομαι ικανοποίηση που μου δόθηκε αυτή η ευκαιρία και ταυτόχρονα λύπη που δεν μπορέσαμε να συνεχίσουμε σαυτό το δρόμο Είναι δύσκολο να ξεχωρίσω δημοσιογραφικές στιγμές που άφησαν το στίγμα τους όλα αυτά τα χρόνια, είναι πάρα πολλές Η μεγαλύτερη πρόκληση όλα αυτά τα χρόνια ήταν να κρατά κανείς τον εαυτό του σε ?απόλυτη φόρμα? όσον αφορά τις εξελίξεις στην Ελλάδα και στις ΗΠΑ. Έπρεπε να είμαστε ειδήμονες, όσο το δυνατόν, σε ότι συμβαίνει εδώ, αλλά και στην Ελλάδα, για να μπορέσουμε να προσεγγίσουμε και να μεταδώσουμε τις εξελίξεις με τρόπο κατανοητό και να κάνουμε επιλογές περιεχομένου που θα σήμαιναν κάτι για τον ακροατή'.
Ζωή Λεουδάκη Όταν κανείς γράφει καθημερινά δελτία ειδήσεων συνειδητοποιεί πλήρως την τραγικότητα και το παράλογο της ζωής. Η χειρότερη μέρα της εβδομάδας ήταν πάντα η Κυριακή. Πήγαινα στο γραφείο, αφού είχε περάσει χρόνο με την οικογένεια μου, όπου ερχόμουν αντιμέτωπη με την αδυσώπητη πραγματικότητα του πολέμου στο Ιράκ και το Αφγανιστάν. Θυμάμαι μια είδηση όπου ένας αμερικανός στρατιώτης έβγαλε από την τσέπη του καραμέλες για να δώσει σε παιδιά, τα οποία μαζεύτηκαν γύρω του, όταν ένας βομβιστής αυτοκτονίας πυροδότησε τα εκρηκτικά που είχε πάνω του. Λυπάμαι που κλείνει η Ελληνική Υπηρεσία και μειώνεται ο πλουραλισμός πληροφόρησης στην Ελλάδα. Τα προγράμματά μας λειτουργούσαν σαν μια γέφυρα ανάμεσα ότι στις 2 χώρες. Προσφέραμε σημαντική ενημέρωση στον έλληνα πολίτη για αποφάσεις, τάσεις και εκτιμήσεις του Λευκού Οίκου και του Στέητ Ντιπάρτμεντ πάνω σε θέματα που αφορούν την Ελλάδα και την Κύπρο με τρόπο λιτό και αντικειμενικό. Με έχουν επίσης συγκινήσει οι έντονες αντιδράσεις των ακροατών μας για τον κλείσιμο της υπηρεσίας, αλλά και η μεγάλη κάλυψη που είχαμε στον ελληνικό τύπο για το έργο μας.
1- Αννα Καραγιαννοπούλου, 2 - Αννα Καραγιαννοπούλου Δημήτρης Μανής Ζωή Λεουδάκη 3 - Αθηνά Κρικέλη , Γιώργος Μπιστης
Anastazio Kotsopoulos The man who transforms passion to jewelry
Anastazio Kotsopoulos’s passion for jewelry came effortlessly. At the age of 19, he started studying the art of stone setting next to hi brother Agis Kotsopoulos.The two worked together for many years and studied next to the best Greek Goldsmiths while learning in theory and in practice the construction of handmade jewelry. This knowledge became inspirational for Anastazio who wanted to create his ownjewelry brand. With hardly any budget, he managed to create 8 high jewelry pieces in total and he decided to try and promote them to jewelry shops at the Greek islands. His efforts didn’t go unnoticed and a year ago he founded his own brand Anastazio and developed his first collection "All time classic". The world of jewelry welcomed the young and talented designer and within a short period of time he became the talk of the town. He is always aiming for the very best quality, innovative design anduniqueness. His passion is creating exceptional high jewelrymasterpieces, whose purpose is to inspire beauty and confidence.Anastazio
Υψηλή αισθητική, design, ποιότητα και έμπνευση, είναι τα βασικά στοιχεία, του Aναστασιου Κωτσόπουλου, για τις μοναδικές collection κοσμημάτων του. Με μόνιμη έμπνευση, από Αρχαία Ελλάδα και σε συνδιασμό με την γυναικεία ομορφιά και θυληκότητα ο Αναστάσιος, σε ηλικία 19 ετών, ξεκίνησε δίπλα στον αδελφό του Άγη, μαθαίνοντας την τέχνη του αδαμαντοδέτη. Παράλληλα, η ενασχόληση του, με τους καλύτερους Έλληνες Χρυσοχόους, του έδωσαν εμπειρία και έμπνευση στο έργο του. Πριν από ένα χρόνο, δημιούργησε, το δικό του Brand ''Anastazio'', με τεράστια επιτυχία στο χώρο του κοσμήματος. Η ανταπόκριση ήταν μεγάλη, όπως και το καλωσόρισμα επίσης. Το πάθος του, η διάθεση για δημιουργία και η αστείρευτη έμπνευση του, ήταν αυτά που λειτούργησαν καταλυτικά για την καθιέρωση του.
www.anastazio-jewellery.com
Institution for scientific research and education, with collections of more than 32 million specimens and artifacts.
World news
After months of failed telephone diplomacy between Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, hardliners are gaining the upper hand in discussions over the appropriate response to Russia. They may soon prevail with demands that go far beyond new economic sanctions.
The official number is 25. That, according to the government, is how often German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the telephone since last November. But there are estimates and evidence to suggest that there have been closer to 35 such chats. All of the conversations focused on Ukraine. A breakthrough was never achieved. Merkel's relations with Putin are considered to be closer than those enjoyed by most other Western leader with the Russian president. Yet positive outcomes from those ties have been nonexistent.
from Berlin, is now entering its 10th month. What began with the collapse of an association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine can now be called a war. Heavy weapons are being deployed in the battle over cities and villages. Military reports speak of "strategically important highland." And each day, soldiers are dying -- some with and some without regular uniforms. From the very beginning of this crisis, it was Merkel who used her relatively good relations with the Russian president to at least try to understand him, to convey different viewpoints and also to warn him. US President Barack Obama and the other Europeans also folThe crisis in Eastern Europe, just two hours by plane lowed her lead.
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formulation in which he stated that reports from eastUltimately, though, the approach didn’t achieve the nec- ern Ukraine “add up to a military intervention”. essary results. Merkel and Steinmeier are facing a Russian leadership No one within the EU or NATO is accusing Merkel of that appears to be toying with them. After prolonged failing, but at the NATO summit this week, Merkel is pressure, Putin participated in an April conference that likely to face some tough questions. Like why NATO included the EU, the US and Ukraine. The closing statepartners should continue a dialogue with a man who ment read: “All illegal armed groups must be disarmed; often doesn’t keep his word? And what happens if the all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legiticonstant tightening of sanctions doesn’t make any im- mate owners.” Of course, none of that has happened. pression on the Kremlin? The crisis has reached the point the chancellor wanted to Later, in a telephone conversation with Merkel, Putin avoid all costs -- the point where military logic replaces demanded a unilateral cease-fire, which the chancellor diplomatic efforts. Putin appears to have gone even be- then pushed for in Kiev. After Ukrainian leaders finalyond this stage by allowing the deployment of Russian ly agreed, Putin allowed pro-Russian rebels to capture troops and their equipment into eastern Ukraine. With- several border crossings that have been since been used in NATO, pressure is growing on Merkel to change her to facilitate transports of supply replenishments from approach Russia. Wooden Formulations Speaking on Friday, a spokesman for German For- Weeks later, Putin dispatched his foreign minister to a eign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier unintention- meeting in Berlin. But as soon as he returned to Mosally revealed the effect this pressure is already having cow, a Russian military convoy “got lost” and entered on Berlin. “The foreign minister has anything but a bad Ukrainian territory “by mistake.” For weeks, Berlin has conscience” for having attempted to find a diplomatic been trying to help establish the OSCE monitoring of solution, he said. Meanwhile, during his regular press the border, with the help of drones. Some 20 governconference, Chancellor Merkel’s spokesman Steffen ment officials in Berlin were trying to organize the Seibert spent minutes trying to avoid using the terms equipment as well as the six-week training courses to “war” or “invasion”. Instead, he stuck with a wooden use it. But those efforts could now be obsolete.
World News
Those are only a few of the many hopes held by Berlin that have been dashed. The German government’s Russia experts don’t even want to venture a guess as to whether the deployment of Russian troops is part of a plan or just a spontaneous reaction to internal power struggles. Concerns are already mounting in Berlin that Putin may be seeking to create and partition off a corridor along the Black Sea coast running from the eastern Ukrainian border to Transnistria in the west -- in other words, through the southern Ukrainian provinces the Kremlin likes to call “New Russia”.. ‘Level Four?’ That would provide Moscow with a land bridge to Crimea as well as a direct connection to the Russian separatists in Moldova’s Transnistria region. Only two weeks ago, when Merkel made a short visit to Latvia, officials in Berlin assumed that Putin would be unable to implement such a plan. But things look different now. In its helplessness, the status quo remains the German government’s official reaction. Officials say Berlin is seeking a “diplomatic solution” and that it will continue to do so. That could also include tighter “level three” sanctions that would impact entire business sectors and no longer just the more than 100 people, goods and companies that have been added to EU sanctions list. It would take time, though, for such sanctions to have an effect, one Merkel advisor admitted recently. So will “Level Three” suffice or will something along the lines of a “Level Four” be required?
The answers to that will not come from the negotiating rooms at the European Union or during the kind of EU summit that took place last Saturday. They will be made by NATO. This week, leaders alliance member states will meet at the Celtic Manor hotel complex in Wales. Foreign and defense ministers are expected to attend as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Thus far, Merkel’s approach had enjoyed broad support within NATO. And she was able to ensure that Jens Stoltenberg, the smooth and diplomatic former prime minister of Norway, take over for outgoing NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. But attitudes are shifting. With each new Russian provocation, the arguments in favor of confrontation are becoming more difficult to ignore.
For the first time in this conflict, the German government in August was forced to retreat from one of its prior positions. Poland and the Baltic states had demanded that resolutions for an increased NATO presence in their countries would not automatically expire after one year. The Eastern Europeans had succeeded in recent weeks in gaining the support of every other member state. Except for Germany.
Maria Papapetros USA
By Maria Papapetros
WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS FALL? “Let us all become more aware of what is going on, on the planet we inhabit, and how can we make a difference in its evolutionary progress? How can we stop its digression? Prayers are not enough if not accompanied by action” Autumn is upon us now; summer gear and bathing suits are stowed away, and mothers rush to enroll their offsprings to school. Kids, who have been enrolled, have no physical schools to go to due to “no vacancy”, parents are desperate and have formed lines miles long outside educational institutions for a solution. In the mean time we see shopping galore, department stores are flooded with teenage shoppers with daddy’s credit card. There is so much excitement in the air! On the other hand, I hear complaints about the summer season ending by many, about the weather, the humidity, the rain, and the cold by others. Enough already, we cannot have Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard and Mykonos all year round. Get real! This a new season, a new opportunity to do things right and I don’t mean to just shed the pounds you put on with your excessive eating and drinking, the last few months. Stop your complaints, get out of your microcosm and take a look at what is going on in the world around you. People are being beheaded, and think about this; your son or daughter, your siblings and parents could be next. There are wars going on and I don’t just mean in Gaza. The trees are already beginning to shed leaves, and they are getting ready for a new life cycle. What are you shedding? The cobwebs from your eyes and the wax out of your ears I hope.
Let us all become more aware of what is going on, on the planet we inhabit, and how can we make a difference in its evolutionary progress? How can we stop its digression? Prayers are not enough if not accompanied by action. What can we do; let’s shed apathy and indifference and raise our voices, get more involved, write to your Congressman, your President, ask questions, say what you want with your vote. Get together with friends, inspire them and in unison become a voice and speak your concerns. There is power in numbers. Enjoy the new season! Maria Papapetros is uniquely qualified as both a psychic and a healer. She has made quantum leaps in the therapeutic community by using her unique psychic gifts in the field of para-psychology. Hailed worldwide for her unparalleled psychic abilities, Maria Papapetros is a central energy source behind the movement to legitimize the field of psychic development. She currently resides in the New York area. She consults regularly with clients on both coasts of the United States and in various countries, such as Greece, England, Turkey and Cyprus. Find Maria on Facebook-twitter-website www.mpapapetros.com
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Η ασημένια τεφροδόχος και το χρυσό στεφάνι του Αλέξανδρου Δ’
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Naked full-body scanners failed to detect weapons:
By Shelly Palmer Research conducted by three universities found the Rapiscan Secure 1000 — which they bought on eBay — could not detect concealed weapons such as knives, guns and explosives when covered with plumbers tape. Not only did the body scanners at some U.S. airports expose a traveler’s every line and curve, they weren’t very good at finding weapons, researchers say.
Guns, knives and faux explosives were among the contraband snuck past the backscatter X-ray by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University, who bought a surplus Rapiscan Secure 1000 off of eBay. The machine was still wrapped in plastic when J. Alex Halderman and others on the research team bought it from a seller in Europe for about $50,000, he told the Daily News.
Their team found several vulnerabilities to render the scanner ineffective for screening contraband from those who had prior access to the machine. Researchers described the scanner as ineffective for screening contraband against those who had access to the machine to test and refine their methods, the study shows. The scanners were used by several U.S. airports at security checkpoints between 2009 and 2013, but were bombarded with criticisms over privacy concerns because it showed Transportation Security Administration officers what is essentially a naked body under a pile of clothes. Even though the scanners were taken out of service in 2013, they’re now being installed at other government facilities such as jails and courthouses. Photos taken for the research project show a pistol stuffed into a person’s waistband or an explosive strapped to the stomach is easily picked up by the scanner, but when weapons are creatively concealed with strips of plumbers tape, they’re practically invisible.
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κάθε Σάββατο και Κυριακή ΤV 100 ΔΗΜΟΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΛΕΟΡΑΣΗ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ