Adil Najam
Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day. In most years, most of us may not have thought much about it. This year, we cannot afford to ignore it.
Hollywood power-couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are also UNHCR goodwill ambassadors and longtime friends of humanitarian causes worldwide, including in Pakistan, just announced a US$ 1 million donation to assist displaced Pakistanis.
As Pakistanis we thank them for this generous gesture. As Pakistanis let us also view this as a reminder of our own responsibilities to reach out to and assist our own.
Readers at ATP have already been extremely generous in this regards. In our last campaign (last month) readers raised US$ 4,780 from direct donations. On our part, we had added another US$ 2,220 to that to make it a round US$7,000 (Pak Rs. 560,000). Of this, two tranches of donation were already given - to the Edhi group in Pakistan and directly to UNHCR. A third tranche is now being sent - again, evenly distribted between the Edhi group and UNHCR. This means that the funds donated till now have been evenly given to these two.
We are starting a short campaign again today (we will keep this open for only a few days) and hope that our readers will again show their generous spirit to whatever extent that can. We remain committed to add to whatever is raised from our own advertising revenue. As before, it does not matter how much you can give, what you give, how you give, or even where you give - if you find our widget useful give here, if you can give directly to the many many worthy organizations that are doing extremely good work. But do please remember to give. These IDPs (internally displaced people) are Pakistanis who were at the frontline of a battle that all of us are fighting. Their sacrifices are for all of us, and we all must demonstrate this in whatever way we can.
Pakistan has been at the epicenter of the global refugee crisis for decades now. And with over 2 million Pakistanis displaced in their own country becasue of the havoc wrecked in the Swat region, the global refugee crisis is even more local to Pakistan than it has been before.
Thank you, Angelina Jolie. For keeping this issue alive in the international media. Thank you, for making your donation at the right time - a time when attention had just begun to be diverted. Thank you, for reminding all of us - Pakistani or not - that this is a human crisis before it is a national crisis. Even as our Pakistani heartstrings are pulled by the plight of the Swat IDPs because they are our own, let us never forget the most important lesson of all - they, and all of us, are humans before we are anything else. Thank you, Angelina Jolie, for that reminder.
@ lennie:
I have given this much thought since I last posted visited ATP, wondering if I were a poor homeless refugee would I want the money or not. Chances are that if I had children that were hungry and homeless I might be so inclined to accept help from anyone. However, that too is a frightening thought just the same for me spiritually. Do we sell our souls to the devil or do we have faith? This would be a personal dilemma and does not reflect what I think the Refugees should or should not do. How could I speak for the refugees and that was not my intention from the beginning. Please I am not calling Brad or Angelina the devil. Devil was used as a metaphor before and now.
I never said that the money should be refused out of sympathy for the ex wife but that I “personally” view the money as haraam.
It does take two to tango…I’m glad you clarified that because this was not just about Angelina. The significance of her being mentioned was to point out the treatment of women in regard to other women. Believe me, it is not very kind or sympathetic…especially in the U.S.A.
Regardless of the condition or state of any marriage…it is sacred and should be treated as such. No one has any business in being party to its destruction regardless how little or if they were invited. There is a saying, where there are 2 there are 3, the third of course being Satan. For those of us that are Muslims, the Jole/Pitt behavior is 100% unacceptable regardless how common or socially acceptable it has become. I don’t make the rules.
I don’t read gossip magazines. If something looks like a dog, smells like a dog, and barks like a dog…its probably a dog.
Back to the beginning, my objection was not only my personal thoughts on accepting the money but was about “applauding” THEM for anything. They could have donated the money anonymously if they truly wanted to receive no public recognition for doing a good deed. It was all for the P.R. and damage control. Therefore, their selfish motives clearly nullify the good deed theory.
Good Will Ambassadors are chosen simply based on being worldly reknown in a wide public medium such as in movies and television. They are told what countries to visit…she was sent to Pakistan…she didn’t choose to go to Pakistan on her own. Likewise, they don’t even pay for their own trips…they are all expense paid vacations by the same programs they are trying to raise awareness & funds for. Look it up.
Furthermore, and this will probably be of no relevance to you if you are not a muslim but she has adopted children coming from different religious backgrounds, and desires yet to adopt a muslim child and a Christian child. Chances are because she has money, she will be permitted to do so even though I believe it is unlawful for a Muslim child to be adopted by a non-Muslim.
Being an Atheist or Agnostic (whichever hasn’t been made clear yet), I wonder if she is going to offer these children any religious upbringing and if she does…which will she choose? It would probably be a good idea if she actually got married too.
By the way, I was Born and raised in the U.S.A.
Excuse me Aisha, but I prefer that there are much more people like Angelina Jolie in this world, than people like Jennifer Aniston and people like yourself. It would be a better place for sure.
I really question your “morality” given what you have said about Pakistanis refugees, should they then refuse Brad and Angelina’s help in sympathy with this “poor-dumped ex-wife” Jennifer Aniston? What is worse than so-called morality based on gossip magazines about people you don’t even know or met once in your lifetime?
First, you cannot steal somebody’s husband, it takes two to tango baby, breakups happen and especially with Hollywood stars it really happens everyday. Have you been under Brad Pitt’s bed to know exactly when and where has he starting to dump Jennifer Aniston and to be with Angelina Jolie? How do you know if his marriage (which I believe) was rotten long before he ever fell in love with Angelina? I don’t know from which country you hail, but here in the US it’s not
Must say, I am sad to see that additions to this have been so slow. I have added a little and hope others will also.
Unlike Christian missionaries who spend millions of dollars on humanitarian aid in order to convert people of other faith or Islamic Tableghi jamat who spend money looking for some reward (hoori) in afterlife,Angelina Jolie’s work is truly humanitarian beyond creed or race.
She deserves our appreciation.
@Aisha i find it interesting you are not condemning Brad a married man cheating on his wife the same way as Angelina.
IDP in Pakistan need all the help they can get.Dirty money could be used to build toilets or buy diapers for kids as Sir Syed Ahmed would have done.
@Aishafbi786
Again, you seem to have made this whole thing an issue of Angelina’s personal life, when this article was a short, concise thank you note for her aid, nothing more. In your last post you’ve also thrown in judgements abt her supposedly failing career (as you see it) and comments abt my supposed lack of moral conscience (because I’m a man?..:). I’d like to know how any of these are accurate or even relevant. Her career last time I checked wasn’t doing badly at all. I think a recent time magazine (or some other) ranking, ranked her as one of the most powerful women in Hollywood (ahead of Oprah).
As for my supposed lack of moral conscience. What leads you to make that conclusion? I certainly don’t think adultery, having affairs, living in sin is right. I just don’t think viewing ppl through solely that lens is fair either cause it’ll lead us to overlook the good that they do and also because those are the kinds of matters that i think God is better suited to judge than me.
that was all
jock
@Jock:
As for morally depraved harlot behavior, I was not referring to her open sexual lifestyle with other single men & women (that’s another issue all together) but rather the adulterous relationship that existed between her and Brad Pitt (a married man) which she announced publicly and oh so proudly that which previously had been unknown to Brad’s wife. Therefore, as for no one being hurt by her actions, I beg to differ. Surely, you would feel differently about AJ and Brad, if Brad had been married to your sister or daughter or mother.
Excuse me but she is attempting to buy her way in an effort to change public opinion. Perhaps no so much “your” opinion but that of the American public who basically pay her salary. Despite what one might think about the lack of morality in America, and I agree on that for the most part; however, public opinion in America of both Angelina and Brad has diminished greatly since news of their illicit affair became public knowledge. Without support of the American people, her and Brad are becoming box office losers. No one is rushing out to watch their movies any more. America loves Brad’s wife Jennifer Aniston…a gentle moral human being and not so easily can they forgive Brad and Angelina for the pain, wrongs, and public humiliation they caused her. I’m sorry you disagree but when you sleep with another woman’s husband, you are a harlot. Do you think what they did was right? Should it be viewed as socially acceptable? Or is such behavior a threat to the morality of society and to family values?
Jock, I am an American born Sicilian woman who is Pakistani by marriage. And, I am a Muslim and proud of it. So, since I am an American, what now is your reasoning for thinking I see hidden agendas, conspiracies in almost everything…even when they don’t exist…:)? Obviously, your moral consciousness is much different than mine.
Like I said, perhaps it is because I am a woman that I find the adultery so morally depraved whereas your being a man who can take up to four wives, you on the other hand probably feel very differently. If it was the wife who had publicized and flaunted her adulterous affair and left her husband for another man, you might not be so inclined to overlook the immoral behavior. =)
@ AishaFBI786
I think comparing Angelina to a ‘morally depraved harlot’ and calling her aid ‘accepting gifts from the devil’ is both funny as well as blown out of proportion. Why should we be judging other people in such a harsh way. And since when have our own people been bastions of good values and proper conduct. Kindly note that whatever her wrong-doing is…here i presume you refer to her sexually-open lifestyle, was confined to herself and didn’t do any physical, financial or criminal damage to anybody else. The same cannot be said of so many of our politicians and leaders, bureacrats and the like, who trample on others with complete impugnity.
There was also this talk of not letting her ‘buy your support and praise and conscience’. Since when did she offer to buy any of your ‘conscience, support or praise’…Why would she want your or my support or praise. We live 3000 miles away from her, with priorities and lives different from her. She has very little to gain (close to nothing) by giving the refugees this money. Its become fashionable in Pakistan amongst liberals, conservatives, upper, middle and lower class( in short everyone) to see hidden agendas, conspiracies in almost everything…even when they don’t exist…:)
jock
I can’t understand all the praise for this couple. Need I remind of old proverbs, “beware of those bearing gifts” and “beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.“ When do we ignore the morality or evil deeds of a person? Is it okay to accept gifts from the devil? If they give us gifts do we pretend that they are good and righteous? Does generosity cancel out the bad one has done?
I truly don’t know what to make of the “new” Angelina Jolie. Certainly I commend the good works she is now doing in the world but I certainly do not think she is worthy of praise and her generosity does not cancel out the wrong she has done which she has never even taken responsibility for. Oh, she is too arrogant and rich to think she has any accountability. I for one can not ignore the acts of Angelina not so long ago. Perhaps it is because I am a woman that I find her morally depraved and indifferent and a threat to society because of un-humanitarian acts of the past. Since when do we praise a harlot? Do we turn a blind out because of her generosity and because she sheds a tear on television? Would she be shedding a tear for anyone who stood between her and what she wanted regardless how wrong her desires might be? I doubt it.
I can say the same thing for instance about Osama Bin Laden. While he is an intelligent and generous man who has given much to orphans and widows and the poor I cannot praise him as I often hear others doing because I have a conscious and cannot ignore the evils that he does even if I do understand his plight. Wrong is wrong and right is right. Some things are never acceptable.
In short, my conscious cannot be bought. My friendship cannot be bought. My support and praise cannot be bought. Let me hear some words of accountability for wrongs and then I will be open to the possibility that you are a changed and better person. Until then, keep your dirty money.