For those of you in joining us in our quest...here is some information that you will find useful...Remember Jordan can be the leading state for Human Rights in the Arab world...you just have to want to take a leap of faith... Enough Already With Human Rights The news is filled with human rights violations, the 100,000 plus deaths in Syria, oppression of women in Saudi Arabia, human trafficking, religious suppression, child workers, hunger, global warming, unlawful imprisonment, killing of LGBT people, book banning, police brutality, governmental surveillance of personal communication, drone strikes, no freedom of assembly, disregard for nationality, destruction of cultural icons and the list goes on and fills our news columns on line and off every day. We get petitions to sign on any number of these issues and press delete without opening them. Enough. Human Rights has become a way to point fingers at the “other guy,” making sure we know we are right and they are wrong. The West points East and the East points West, as if human rights has anything at all to do with any of this. Over the past 65 years, since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations, we have been instructed that human rights is about violations…things we must fight against. We must end oppression, we must end violence, we must end dictatorships. If you read the UDHR you find that Human Rights is “being for” something, not being in opposition. Human Rights is about realization and fulfillment of the Declaration’s goals and objectives, that is simply not how we see human rights in the world today. We aren’t struggling for human rights, we struggle against the void where human rights don’t exist. Human trafficking is not a human rights violation, it is the absence of human rights, it is a void, where civility and decency do not exist. The rape of women is violence against women, it should be stopped, but it is not about human rights violations, there simply has never been human rights to violate. We continue to confuse the issue, turning individuals and governments off to the reality of what Human Rights is. Human Rights is not about the absence of human rights and if we want it to end these horrors against humanity we must fill the void and ensure that everyone, all 7 plus billion of us, know human rights and are able to apply it to all aspects of our daily life. As long as ignorance reigns, the void, the dark hole of inhumanity will flourish. The longer organizations and individuals claim to be “human rights activists,” and “human rights workers,” the longer we will continue the myth that the absence of human rights is human rights. The sooner we recognize that everyone who does anything respectful of others, who incorporates human rights into their daily life is a human rights activist, the sooner we will eliminate the void and be on our way to the world we want to live in. If we, the human beings who inhabit the planet, knew what we have in the UDHR, we would be less likely to succumb to the void that plagues us. The UDHR is a light, like the torch in the hand of Lady Liberty, and the words of the Emma Lazarus poem. Human Rights tells us that all human beings, by virtue of being human, have dignity and must be housed, clothed, fed and have the right to participate in their government, religion and culture. This does not mean we are entitled to a mansion, to dine at a 5 star restaurant, wear designer clothes or abuse others because of religious or cultural doctrine. It means that we are all equal, regardless of race, nationality, creed, color, orientation, gender, origin or abilities. It does not mean we have to like everyone, befriend everyone, support everyone. Human Rights is as simple as tossing trash in the garbage can, as looking over your shoulder to ensure the door doesn’t slam in the face of the person behind you. Human Rights is holding elected officials accountable, getting involved, creating good paying jobs and simply not getting in the way of other doing well, or getting access to the tools they need to do better. All governments, religions, organizations and communities do better when built on a UDHR foundation. Families, NGOs and businesses do better when they are infused with UDHR as a framework.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 14:17:55 +0000
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