Thankfulness vs Gratitude

Nov 28, 2023

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We are wrapping up a holiday focused on thankfulness. But do we really understand what it means. Some Sunday thoughts.

Timestamps, Links, & Resources

@malcolmguite Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level… #Thanksgiving: a sonnet

Thanksgiving: a sonnet

Thanksgiving: a sonnet

Afghanistan News

@AggieWill00 2+ yrs since the fall of Kabul.

Today, I put another trusted ally in a safe house, so he could await his trip to safety.

Why is it up to me and a few others to do a job the USG should be doing?

Unbelievable.

@Punk319 The Center of Afghan Journalists has reported 75 arrests and threats against Afghan journalists by the Taliban in the first six months of this year.

@Punk319 According to the announcement, the use of music at wedding ceremonies is strictly forbidden, and dancing and other festivities are not allowed.

November 19, 2023: Taliban Enforce New Restrictions on Wedding Celebrations in Samangan: No Cameras, No Music

Taliban Enforce New Restrictions on Wedding Celebrations in Samangan: No Cameras, No Music

@Punk319 When you have a country that is mostly illiterate like Afghanistan is, visual representation is needed for one to know what is going on or what is provided. The Taliban are proving their stupidity by telling Afghans that they cannot provide that visual representation.
== The Taliban prohibited the display of informative posters in health facilities in Takhar that feature humans, particularly women. In Afghanistan, where literacy rates are low, the use of informative posters for health education and awareness is widespread.

@skotrds This impacts not just medicine but also any academic area of study involving biological systems. Again, since the onset with the Talib version of Sharia, I wondered when this would appear.

@StephanAJensen Madness and evil go hand in hand.
This is worse than #GenderAparthied. This is barbaric and inhumane. Women are treated worse than animals in #Afghanistan under the rule of #PakProxyTaliban. The world must act urgently to save Afghan women.
@heatherbarr1

@Rabail26 Within a week 7 forcibly disappeared Baloch youth extrajudicially killed. A grp of 4 included Balach Baloch who was disappeared from home on Oct29, then declared arrested by CTD, allowed to meet family on Nov21 but killed before court hearing on Nov29.

November 25, 2023: The brother was not arrested but picked up from home’: What was the charge against Balach Baloch who was killed in CTD operation in Kech?
https://www.bbc.com/urdu/articles/ce9pq07npvno

@TheHazaristan BREAKING: Mohammad Dawood Wahdat, a former #Hazara police officer, has been executed in his home by the Taliban in the Nili city, center of Daykundi province, on Saturday 18 November 2023, multiple sources reported.

@Punk319 A British aid worker, who was imprisoned by the Taliban for about 9 months, says that during his time in detention, the Taliban tried to turn him into a radical person.

November 24, 2023: Kurnool has been released from Taliban prison after serving 9 months of imprisonment
https://www.independentpersian.com/node/372591/%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86/%DA%A9%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%86-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%88-%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%84-%DA%A9%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AF

@heatherbarr1 “Health officials say 19 baby girls have been born in makeshift camps of Afghan returnees in the past month, raising concerns for the conditions they face.”

Afghan mothers are being forced to give birth in makeshift refugee camps after Pakistan expulsion

November 17, 2023: Afghan mothers are being forced to give birth in makeshift refugee camps after Pakistan expulsion

Afghan mothers are being forced to give birth in makeshift refugee camps after Pakistan expulsion

@AfghanistanRW 108 Cases of Violence Against Journalists in 2023 in Afghanistan: Watchdog #TOLOnews
Free media is under attack and pressure from the Taliban. Support the free media and journalists in Afghanistan.

@RaisedtoWalk

@skotrds But Al-Qaeda doesn’t exist anymore, right? It’s larger and more powerful than ever with a managerial role in Jihad.
== al-#Qaeda incites #Muslims to kill any #Zionist they encounter and quotes al-Anfal 57 “If you ever encounter them in battle, make a fearsome example of them, so perhaps those who would follow them may be deterred.”


·
@RaisedtoWalk
== And this is another reason why the Taliban won’t be recognized. It will also lead to Afghanistan being completely blocked off from the world.

No one wants radicalized children or even adults migrating to or visiting their countries.

Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan

@sillaakbari Distressing news again about women & girls coming out of Afghanistan: I just learned that Bahara Karimi, a former student of mine, & a group of young women have been detained by the Taliban for over a month now. Bahara, only 22, was taken from her home 1/
==because she participated in the women’s rights movement in Kabul & stood up for her rights. Her family is living in shock, fear & trauma, unable to speak out due to concerns for Bahara’s safety.
Join us in demanding justice for Bahara, & many others facing similar struggles.

@Jeannie_Hartley The body of this lady was found last Thursday after being shot by the Taliban in Khaja Othman area of ​​Almar district of Faryab province.
Relatives of this lady said that she is a resident of Erzlik Qaisar, who disappeared when she returned from her daughter’s house, but in this tape, it can be seen that the Taliban shot her.

@Punk319 The Taliban has decided that women and girls are meant for having children and have done an outright ban on contraceptives in the country. They have also banned the discussion of raising awareness for this and promotion material on brochures and signs.

@Larkabroad As expected- TALIBAN USING PAKISTAN/IRAN/TURKEY DEPORTATION PROGRAMS TO SNARE FORMER AFGHAN MILITARY MEMBERS

@AfghanAnalyst2 Following the publication of an article by former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan regarding Pakistan’s involvement with the ISKP phenomenon in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime reportedly halted the release of new articles by Al Mersaad media. Sources indicate that the Pakistani government formally complained to the Taliban government about Al Mersaad, prompting action that resulted in the suspension of broadcasts until a new policy is devised and staff changes are implemented. Since then, Al Mersaad has refrained from broadcasting anything anti-Pakistan and is predominantly reposting anti-Islamic State propaganda, often recycling previously published articles.

@DJehrani So “Bad Taliban” ( #TTP) are taking haircuts suggested by “Good Taliban”.

And, #PakistanArmy wasted 10 years convincing the world and its own population that the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan #Taliban are different!

@Kali_Vardag Some experts in South Asian Affairs including Dr. Rahed Ravi argue it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” we witness the end of #PakistanArmy dictatorship and the birth of independent freedom-loving nations of Pashtuns, Balochs & Sindhis. The protests of #ImranKhanArrest are a testimony that when people in Pakistan rise up, the nuclear-armed #PakArmy couldn’t even stop a single unarmed civilian woman from breaking into #GHQ in the heart of the Pakistani establishment.

Therefore, the formation of a strategic and long-term alliance among the Pashtun, Baloch, and Sndhi nations is a must to break the cycle of oppression and generational injustice in these nations.

@skotrds They never had any intention of power sharing. The entire prelude to August 2021 was designed to break civil society and weaken the country for takeover.
==Taliban now say they oppose intra-Afghan talks but, guess what, that was a stipend in the Doha Agreement.
They just love to show how much they value that agreement, don’t they?

Taliban Allowed to Travel

@Mi20na00 Why are sanctioned Taliban leaders allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment while their policies push Afghanistan’s healthcare system to the edge of collapse?

November 21, 2023: Taliban Leaders Get Medical Treatment Abroad While Afghan Women and Children Lack Basic Care
Why are sanctioned Taliban leaders allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment while their policies push Afghanistan’s healthcare system to the edge of collapse?
https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/taliban-leaders-get-medical-treatment-abroad-while-afghan-women-and-children-lack-basic-care/

@RaisedtoWalk And actual Afghans at risk are denied and blocked. What does it say about the Taliban when even their own members don’t want to live in a country under their own rule. Their own leaders bail & their children go to school in countries like Pakistan
==
“…. Germany has officially sued and Holland is very angry because they issued a visa to a terrorist.
This visa was issued from Pakistan to the Taliban by this employee of the Afghan and Norwegian embassies named Faizi.

SIGAR Updates on Afghanistan and the Taliban

@SIGARHQ The World Food Programme (#WFP) was providing monthly food assistance to some 13 million people at the start of 2023, but that number dropped to three million by September due to insufficient funding

@SIGARHQ (1/2) Environmental shocks such as earthquakes, floods, crop destruction can lead to displacement & diminished access to clean drinking water, which increases vulnerability to other risks such as disease

@SIGARHQ (2/2) Of the 6.6 million internally displaced persons in #Afghanistan, #UNOCHA estimated that 91% of new displacements were caused by natural disasters

@SIGARHQ (1/2) Flash floods in July damaged residential houses, infrastructure, farming equipment, and acres of agricultural land, affecting 16,700 people. Reduction in agricultural output came after an already difficult spring when…

@SIGARHQ (2/2)…Moroccan locusts destroyed 9,300 hectares of crops, impacting 56,000 households in the northeast and 75,000 households in the west

@SIGARHQ After a series of earthquakes in #Afghanistan in October, #USAID provided an additional $12 million in immediate humanitarian assistance and noted that the earthquakes “compound the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis”

@SIGARHQ Without adequate funding, #UNOCHA said humanitarian partners cannot preposition food and other assistance in areas where freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall will soon block access to beneficiaries

@SIGARHQ (1/2) IG Sopko: Many people in the United States and other donor countries believe that they are sending aid to the Afghan people while bypassing the Taliban

@SIGARHQ IG Sopko: Some UN agencies pay the Taliban for providing security for their offices and armed
escorts for their convoys around the country

@SIGARHQ (1/2) IG Sopko: The Taliban is pressuring the UN and NGOs to hire their Taliban members, their relatives, and allies to help provide U.S. assistance. This hiring pressure appears to take two different forms:

@SIGARHQ (2/2)…it is either a sinecure patronage job for staff who never show up, or a means of embedding staff within an NGO to direct and monitor an organization’s work

@SIGARHQ IG Sopko: The Taliban is taxing beneficiaries on the aid they receive. An NGO official told SIGAR that under the guise of income taxation, the Taliban is extorting money from Afghan teachers and students who receive international donor cash assistance

@SIGARHQ IG Sopko: The Taliban demands payoffs to permit the implementation of aid projects. One NGO official described demands for payoffs as being “like going down a staircase, and every single step, there’s a tax.”

Afghans in Pakistan

Life of an Afghan ally, they can’t get a bank account in Pakistan, can’t even RECEIVE money without a current visa, even with @Refugees certificates, and the Taliban freeze their accounts in Afghanistan

@StephanAJensen We are again trying to pretend “there’s nothing to see here” in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
That hasn’t turned out so well in the past.
==== As an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, I realized that all the countries of the world instead of evacuating Afghan refugees from Pakistan and inviting them to their country. They put all the responsibility on the shoulders of the government of Pakistan. 🇦🇫 🇵🇰 @antonioguterres

@RaisedtoWalk And when they say “little notice,” they mean 30 days
A critical situation is going on in Afghanistan since Taliban took over and beside that #Iran and #Pakistan are helping #Taliban and deporting refugees by force to increase and double these problems in Afghanistan,
Stand with People in Action

@Moni_Kakar In Karachi’s Afghan Camp, amid heartbreak, stories of resilience & hope emerge, showcasing the indomitable spirit of those facing adversity. POR cardholders are asking questions : Will the Pakistani government forcefully deport them after December 31st?

@RaisedtoWalk Just like the $100 for worthless police “security checks” (🇵🇰 doesn’t have a central reporting system), this is nothing more than indirect extortion of Westerners. 🇵🇰 knows Afghans don’t have $830 per person for exit fees OR credit cards! @StateDept
==Afghans who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban takeover and are awaiting resettlement in the West must now pay an $830 exit fee…via credit card. Many also risk expulsion back to Afghanistan following Islamabad’s new mass expulsion policy.
My word.

November 22, 2023: Pakistan under fire for ‘shocking’ $830 exit fee for refugees who fled Taliban
Afghans waiting to be resettled in the UK and other western countries face steep charge in ‘unprecedented’ move
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/22/pakistan-under-fire-for-shocking-830-exit-fee-for-refugees-who-fled-taliban

U.S. Immigration

@RaisedtoWalk Denying asylum to escaped slaves … Our immigration system is SUCH a mess.

July 4, 2021: Immigration and the Principles of the Declaration of Independence
The principles of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution justify free migration rights.

Immigration and the Principles of the Declaration of Independence

@CBP According to U.S. immigration laws, the fact is that most noncitizens coming to our border are not eligible to remain in the United States. Asylum laws do not provide for relief solely for economic reasons or for general violence. Learn ➡️ https://go.dhs.gov/4sf

When the CDC’s Title 42 public health Order lifted at 11:59 p.m. ET on May 11, the United States returned to fully enforcing Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully and do not have a legal basis to stay.
https://www.dhs.gov/immigrationlaws

@RaisedtoWalk No. It’s not. 65% of all asylum cases are denied. In Texas, it’s 90%

Any percentage greater than 50% is “most”

#Math #NotThatHard #Really

March 15, 2023: Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including Asylum Denial Rates

Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including Asylum Denial Rates

In 2021, the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency (USCBP) and its Border Patrol component encountered 1,659,206 undocumented people on and around the U.S.-Mexico border. One might think this number would indicate a significant amount of asylum cases flooding U.S. immigration courts; however, this is not the case. 23,827 total asylum decisions were made in 2021, with only 35% being granted refuge and 1.7% presented with another type of relief. These statistics are increasingly problematic when the current state of U.S. immigration courts is considered. Texas sees the second-highest number of immigration cases per year, and by the end of May 2021 alone, there were 171,579 pending cases in Texas. Most of these cases from 2021 are backlogged cases that have been pending for years, leaving those awaiting asylum detained in the unforgiving conditions of U.S. Border Patrol Processing Facilities. For those rare few whose cases are heard, their chances of being deported dramatically increase if their hearing is in Texas. Houston alone has a 90.9% denial rate across 22 different judges. One judge in particular, Judge Monique Harris, has decided 994 asylum cases between 2017 and 2022 – and has denied all forms of relief to 961. Approximately 99% of her cases consist of asylum seekers from states such as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, and Mexico, many (if not all) of the denied applicants are returned to Mexico by USCBP. This paper will explore how the high asylum denial rate of Texas judges affects the U.S. / Mexico relationship and strains the immigration policies of Mexico.

@AustraliaAFG We thankful from
@DFAT
for their support in a difficult situation from Afghan refugees. We also request for those who have humanitarian visa applicants, and received a file number are in danger of being deported to Afghanistan. We also need support in this miserable situation.

@State_SCA Please note corrected WhatsApp number: the hotline is available Mon-Sat from 8AM to midnight Islamabad time via phone at +1 757-916-4100 and via WhatsApp (text only) at +1 956-291-4571.

@RaisedtoWalk If this is the case, then why can’t the US get an RSC in Pakistan and why is the @GovPakistan
COMPLETELY ignoring IOM & US requests not to arrest & deport Afghans? Do we understand the words “leverage” and “negotiation?” @State_SCA

U.S. Relations With Pakistan

U.S. Relations With Pakistan

@RaisedtoWalk his explains so, SO much about the Afghanistan situation
== Thread: There’s a reason why CIA chief Burns rather than Secretary of State Blinken was the chief US negotiator with Hamas to reach the current truce. One important reason is that unlike Blinken, who is a rather clueless airhead when it comes to the Middle East,
==Burns knows the region well and understands its politics. More importantly, while Blinken may be a diplomat who has never handled so much as a water pistol, the guy just loves war. As in obsessively besotted with it.
==Since reaching adulthood he’s done everything within his power to promote each and every war in the Middle East, and also worked overtime to promote armed conflicts that unfortunately for him ultimately didn’t erupt.
== He probably still considers the 2003 Iraq War his greatest accomplishment. It’s like the guy is either advocating for war or playing Call of Duty 24/7.
== Blinken is not the person you want in the room when you’re conducting complex diplomacy and trying to reach actual agreements with adversaries, as opposed to promoting mass killings and apocalyptic destruction.
== That’s why they left the serious diplomacy to Burns, and recalled Blinken to Washington to issue platitudes about the current crisis. Now that an agreement has been reached, he’s being allowed back to the region for a short trip.

@christy_staats The border crisis… what would you be surprised to know? Border Patrol say what they need is comprehensive immigration reform. The @HolyPostPodcast
went to the border. Listen in. @KaitlynSchiess
@SkyeJethani @MatthewSoerens @carmenjoyimes

@BWBailey85 “Life is short and brutal again,”
@jason_c_howk
told The Afghanistan Project in Ep. 33, which features Jason’s extensive AFG history, and
@GFAfghanistan
support to Afghan diaspora seeking peace.

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@minasharif I think people are often overwhelmed with the idea that there are SO MANY people to help, so they walk away. Please consider instead that there is one family desperately worried about food & warmth. You can change their whole world with a small donation🇦🇫

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Info on Afghan immigration to Canada

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