My first gesture today is to bemoan the death of Prince Philip and to offer my sincere condolences to his wife, Queen Elizabeth, to all members of the Royal family, to their European relatives, to the leaders and citizens of the countries of the Commonwealth, and to all who admired the Queen’s husband, Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh. He was always supportive of the Queen.
May he rest in peace and may the Royal family be united in these sorrowful days.
The Weeping Angel of Amiens(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
Otto Warmbier
The North Koreans did not free Otto Warmbier, they sent home a dying young man. Whatever brutality they inflicted caused his death. When he returned to the United States, nothing could be done for him.
Despite the irreversibility of his fate, I am very thankful to President Trump for securing Otto’s release. He ensured that a dying young man would pass away home, in the United States, and surrounded by his loved ones, his parents in particular, Fred and Cindy Warmbier. Otto’s mother said that her son’s facial expression changed during the last days of his life. He arrived in the United States looking anguished, but died looking serene, at peace.
He will also be given a proper funeral, which will help his parents, his siblings, his friends, and all of us. We were all touched and our thoughts are with his family. Otto Warmbier was the quintessential victim of man’s inhumanity to man.
I would like to offer my deepest condolences to his grieving family and I hope that an angel will be by their side for the rest of their life. They have suffered. They saw videos of their son crying when he was condemned to 15 years of hard labour and looking dejected as guards took him away to serve an unjust sentence.
I have placed above the image of the “Weeping Angel of Amiens,” once again. It is so powerful an image. The soul is immortal. So, no one could take his soul away from Otto.
Two days ago, London was attacked. Britain’s Magna Carta and its Parliament are symbols of democracy.
At times, such events can be expected. Why did the attacker convert to Islam? Why did he become radicalized? We will never know, but he may have felt rejected. How else does one feel when US President Donald Trump bans Muslims from entering the United States? The attacker committed a horrible crime, but why?
Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion
Yesterday, the Canadian government passed an anti-Islamophobia motion. The vote was not unanimous. The problem may be with the term. But Muslims are being denied access to the United States which may explain the choice of the term Islamophobia. Many Canadians are afraid, but I believe our new Canadians: Muslims, Syrians, Iraqis, Armenians, Afghans, Syriacs and Yazidis, will be fine citizens, which will reassure everyone. A few members of Parliament voted against the motion, but it was passed. Migrants and survivors of a genocide who might perish, such as the Yazidis, should be given a home.
I am creating a page listing my posts on Beast literature. I retrieved most of the posts on this subject. If one has no list, one is lost. New posts will be written, but I would prefer not to be too repetitive.
Condolences
I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the dead and wounded.
Quebec City Mosque attack suspect Alexandre Bissonnette (Facebook)
Quebec City mosque attack suspect Alexandre Bissonnette charged with 6 counts of 1st-degree murder – Montreal – CBC News. According to Alexandre Bissonnette’s Facebook page, he followed several profiles with right-wing ideologies, including Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of France’s National Front. (Facebook)
A 27-year-old Laval University student, Alexandre Bissonnette, has been charged with 6 counts of murder and 5 counts of attempted murder while using a restricted firearm (CBC). The attack is considered an act of terrorism. Alexandre Bissonnette was a fan of Mr Trump.
There were vigils on the evening of 30 January 2017 and both the Ottawa and Quebec Parliament’s flag were flying at half-mast. The current outpouring of sympathy towards the Muslim community will not take the victims back to their family and Muslims are afraid, but I hope it will be of some comfort. Quebec Premier Couillard has made it very clear that Canadians had been killed and wounded. I have yet to hear how Canada plans to protect its Muslim citizens, but I presume police surveillance will be increased. The shootings are particularly egregious since they occurred while Muslims were worshiping. This tragedy has hurt Canadians profoundly, from coast to coast, and especially Quebec Canadians where interculturalism has been adopted.
It’s a Canadian tragedy reflecting the shift to the Right affecting various countries.
Quebec City mosque shooting victims include businessman, professor and fathers of young children – Montreal – CBC News
The Victims:
Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, was the owner of a halal grocery store;
Khaled Belkacemi, 60, was a professor of Engineering at Laval University;
Aboubaker Thabti, 44, worked in a pharmacy;
Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39, brothers
Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, worked in information technology;
Ibrahima Barry, 39, worked for Quebec’s Revenue Ministry;
Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, was a programming analyst for the Quebec government.
All victims had children and all victims were Canadians, whatever their origin. A fund is being raised to cover funeral costs. We are awaiting details regarding the wounded.
President Trump’s Visit to Canada
United States President Donald J. Trump is scheduled to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week. Yesterday, 30 January 2017, President Trump “cracked down on immigration and travel.”
Despite the might of American President Trump, I believe that protection of Canada’s identity, values and environment will be foremost in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mind. Canadian Prime Ministers must respect and love their American counterparts, they need not please them. Our border both joins and separates us. (See Canada-United States Border, Wikipedia.)
Raif Badawi will not be flogged today, 23 January 2015. In fact, he may not be flogged again. He is not robust and suffers from diabetes. Consequently, he might not survive another flogging. Mr Badawi has not been sentenced to death.
As you all know, Mr Badawi’s case has been referred to the Supreme Court. This, in my opinion, voids his earlier sentence. They may not agree.
Condolences and a Plea
However, I have an option. I can appeal to the royal family. I am therefore asking King Salman to spare Mr Badawi further floggings and possible death by torture, and to put him on a plane to Canada. We are waiting for him. He might need a wheelchair.
I cannot change the laws of Saudi Arabia. If the laws of Saudi Arabia are to be changed, it is for Saudis to change them.
I am told that flogging is popular in Saudi Arabia, which means that I may be laughed at if I suggest the laws of Saudi Arabia should be in keeping with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and concomitant International Law. It may take forever before I am heard.
The Feasible
Therefore, all I can do is, first,
offer my sympathies to the royal family. King Abdullah has died and the new king is King Salman, his half-brother;
second, beg the new king, King Salman, to show mercy and release Raif Badawi. The government of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. I must therefore go straight to the King himself and Saudi Arabian authorities, his entourage.
I live in a country where freedom of expression is unhindered, except for libel, defamation, incitement to violence, etc. Therefore, I cannot understand why Mr Badawi is serving a jail sentence of ten years for advocating more tolerance towards liberals in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, I live in a country where citizens are not subjected to flogging. For me, what is happening to Raif Badawi makes no sense, but for the Saudis, the values I am promoting may seem ridiculous.
One Act of Clemency
I am therefore using my blog to ask for clemency, one act of clemency. That is all I can ask for and perhaps obtain. I am therefore asking King Salman to release Mr Badawi because his children need a father and his wife, a husband.
Please release Raif Badawi.
—ooo—
My kindest regards to all of you.
Black Stork in a Landscape, ca. 1780 India, probably Lucknow, Colonial British Watercolor on European paper (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY)
