http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=66768&d=11&m=7&y=2005
Monday, 11, July, 2005 (04, Jumada al-Thani, 1426) Save Muslims From Poverty Abid Khazindar . Al-Riyadh Leaders of the eight richest countries in the world met a few days ago in Edinburgh. Among the many things they had to discuss was how to eradicate world poverty. A few days before the meeting, the world watched a series of Live8 concerts which featured scores of artists. The concerts were part of a "Make Poverty History" campaign aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the world's millions of poor. Demonstrators greeting the G8 leaders carried banners and presented slogans demanding action against poverty and the cancellation of poor countries' debts - in addition to allowing agricultural subsidies for poor countries and free access to markets in more affluent nations. The youth of the world who converged on Edinburgh were blessed by Cardinal O'Brien, leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, who said the purpose of the gathering was to "bring to the attention of the G-8 leaders the need for something more, that governments must act to alleviate some of the terrible, dire poverty that does exist around the world, and especially in Africa." Pope Benedict sent his greetings to the gathering and prayed for the participants in the rally and for world leaders that they would all play their part in ensuring a more just distribution of the world's wealth. Former South African President Nelson Mandela reminded the G8 leaders of the need for urgent action and called for the world's poorest nations to be granted multilateral debt relief, worth billions of dollars. "I hope you will do everything within your power to ensure that your meeting will finally conclude in a truly historic agreement," he said, adding that the G8 leaders should not hesitate to stop the mass murder being perpetrated against humanity, referring to the estimated 300,000 children plus hundreds of thousands of adults who die of hunger. "Make Poverty History" comes at a time when many of the poorest countries of the world are in the Muslim world, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. Now, it is our right to protest in the strongest words and ask this question: Why hasn't a single Muslim voice, either a leader or an ordinary citizen, joined this international effort? It is indeed unfortunate that while the entire world has been calling for eliminating poverty, no Muslim voice has been heard as part of the campaign. The banner that should be raised by every Muslim should be "Save Muslims From Poverty." Will we ever see such a thing? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] WM FOR ACEH Bantu korban bencana gempa dan tsunami di Aceh dan Sumatra Utara! Rekening BCA Kantor Cabang Pembantu (KCP) Koperasi Sejati Mulia Pasar Minggu No Rek. 554 001 4207 an. Herni Sri Nurbayanti. Harap konfirmasi sebelumnya ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] atau HP 0817 149 129. Milis Wanita Muslimah Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat. Situs Web: http://www.wanita-muslimah.com ARSIP DISKUSI : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/messages Kirim Posting mailto:wanita-muslimah@yahoogroups.com Berhenti mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Milis Keluarga Islami mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Milis Anak Muda Islam mailto:majelismuda@yahoogroups.com This mailing list has a special spell casted to reject any attachment .... Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/